After Hannah delivers her young son Samuel to Eli the priest, dedicating him to God, she expresses her joy and gratitude in the form of a psalm. The tone of the psalm is somewhat adversarial, which is understandable since she experienced provocation during her childless years and now feels vindicated (see 1 Samuel 1:1-8). Here is the first part of the psalm:
My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.
1 Samuel 2:1-3
There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.
There’s some tension in these verses. Hannah rejoices that her “mouth is enlarged over [her] enemies,” while instructing them not to let “arrogancy come out of” their mouths. Is she arrogating to herself a privilege she is denying to them?
In the Book of Mormon, Ammon offers a similar expression of gratitude and is challenged by his brother. At the end of a fourteen-year mission, he declares that he and his brothers have “great reason … to rejoice” because they have been “instruments in the hands of God” in bringing many people to God (Alma 26:1-9). In response, Aaron says, “Ammon, I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting” (Alma 26:10). But Ammon responds boldly: “I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God” (Alma 26:11). Later in the psalm, Ammon responds again firmly:
If this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God.
Alma 26:36
Ammon’s distinction between boasting in self and boasting in God provides a simple explanation for the apparent inconsistency in Hannah’s psalm. When she speaks of her ascendancy, she consistently gives the credit to God. Her horn is exalted “in the Lord.” Her mouth is enlarged over her enemies because she rejoices in His salvation. In contrast, she instructs her enemies not to talk arrogantly but instead to recognize the superiority of God. The rest of her psalm acknowledges her dependence on God and her nothingness without Him. “He will keep the feet of his saints,” she declares, “and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail” (1 Samuel 2:9), which mirrors Ammon’s testimony: “I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12).
As Ammon’s psalm makes clear, Hannah isn’t really pitting herself against her enemies. She is distinguishing those who rely upon God from those who try to go it alone. Her psalm may sound like boasting, but it is an entirely appropriate kind of boasting: boasting in her God.
Today I will remember my complete dependence upon God. Like Hannah and Ammon, I will confidently express my gratitude to Him for empowering me to do His work.
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