In 1st Samuel, we look at a kind of love story. It’s between Elkanah (a man) and two women: Hannah and Peninnah. It seems that Elkanah married Hannah for love and Peninnah for children, for Hannah was barren. You can bet that Peninnah, like Hagar before her, took advantage of her situation. You can hear her taunt Hannah, “God’s punishing you! There is something about your character or some secret sin in your life that prevents God from blessing you with children.” I think that Hannah might have begun to believe her! It was a great pain for Hannah. 1 Samuel 1:10 tells us, “She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly.” She pleaded with such grief and such a public display of her sorrow that the priest, Eli, thought she was drunk and accused her of such. She explained her grief, and when he understood the problem, Eli said, “Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him.” Then, to close the story, 1 Samuel 1:18 tells us, “Then the woman (Hannah) went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.”
She dumped her pain on God, and that settled the issue for her. David was good at that. He wrote many Psalms, which we call “Imprecatory” Psalms. They are the ones in which David asks God to kill his enemies. He uses some pretty harsh words and describes, sometimes in gory detail, what he wants God to do to them and their families. The point of this type of Psalm is not to explain the harshness of God but the pain of David. He was exploding with emotion over mistreatment by others, especially King Saul. Saul had tried to kill David and mistreated him in many ways. David exploded with his rage at injustice but refused his own revenge. He just poured it all out on God in his Psalms. Even when the opportunity to take personal revenge on Saul, David refused to do so, giving the right completely to God. Setting a good example for all of us, David acknowledges that all vengeance belongs to God. He’ll dump his hurt and disappointment on God but leave the resolution of the problem up to God. This is what Hannah did in her prayer also.
Paul talks about managing our own life problems like Hannah and David did. He puts it in plain language in Philippians 4:6-7 which are familiar verses. The New Living Translation puts it this way: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then, you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” All of our cares and problems are in good hands when we give them to God.