Word of Encouragement (07/27/2023)

And Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; my horn is exalted in the LORD. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation.” (1 Sam. 2:1)

After praising God, Hannah goes on to say, “My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation” (v. 1). Again, what a dramatic turn of events! Hannah has been the victim of Peninnah’s malicious provocations year after year—who knows how long? Her rival called her cursed by God for her barrenness. She had no reply. She had no brilliant one-liner to rebut her rival’s malicious words and put her to silence. She believed it was true herself. She could only weep. But now, instead of sobbing, clear and bold words start to flow out of her mouth. Because the LORD has exalted her horn, she can now speak to prove her vicious rival wrong. She can open her mouth and deride her enemies (Peninnah and possibly other women)—all those who looked down on her and spoke evil of her—as she rejoices in God’s salvation.

You may feel uncomfortable about Hannah speaking of deriding her enemies with her mouth. Should we deride our enemies when God brings them low? Shouldn’t we be humble in our victory and love our enemies? True. There will come a time when we will rightly condemn them for their sins and rebuke them for mistreating us. But during this age of grace, we should pray for those who persecute us and love our enemies. Was Hannah being too vindictive, then?

The basic meaning of the Hebrew word that the ESV translates as “deride” is “to expand or spread” (HALOT). So, the NASB translates it as “My mouth speaks boldly...” and the KJV, “My mouth is enlarged....” So, the impression we get is not so much Hannah deriding her enemies in vindictiveness as having a powerful response to silence their provocations.

We know that this is not easy to do. Retaliation—responding to hurtful words with hurtful words—is tempting. Nobody likes to be put down. Retaliation can give us a sense of pleasure and satisfaction. But it can fracture our relationship irreparably. We need to remember that, in the relationships that matter to us, winning the argument should not be our goal; winning back friends should be. Such cannot be accomplished through vindictive words of retaliation; it is done through proper reconciliation in the spirit of humility and gracious forgiveness.

But how can we do this to those who have maliciously hurt us? Notice how Hannah’s mouth being “enlarged” is connected to her rejoicing in her salvation. It shows that the simple fact that God has shown His favor to us when we didn’t deserve it is so life-transforming and heart-satisfying that we no longer need to seek vengeance to find peace. The magnitude of God’s salvation is powerful enough to transform a wounded heart into a rejoicing and generous heart! When the glory of God’s grace fills our vision, there is no room for retaliation and vengeance. May the Lord enlarge our mouths to praise Him and enable us to extend grace to others!

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