Now "she eats, and her countenance is no more sad." (Ver. 18.) She has found it a blessed thing to pour out her heart, and all its wretchedness, before the Lord. He has comforted her, and she is happy in the thought that He knows all, will guide all, and in His own time will grant her request. This was a real transaction between Hannah and her Lord. It was no imaginary process, no mere emotion. To her the Lord was a true living Friend; in faith she drew near to Him, and she was not disappointed.

Hannah may be a lesson to us in the simplicity of her faith; and shall we who have fuller light, and a revelation of the sympathy of Jesus (more than was given to Hannah),—shall we be backward to accept the privilege of casting our care upon One who careth for us?

Some of us can use Hannah's language, and are fain to say, "I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: let us try her remedy, and "pour out our souls before the Lord." Like her, we shall rise from our knees with a lightened heart, and our "countenance will be no more sad."

III. THE ANSWER CAME. (Ver. 19, 20.)

"The Lord remembered Hannah," and He gave her a son. She called him Samuel, the meaning of the name being "Asked of God." How doubly precious must this child have been to her: it came as a token of God's love, of His covenant mercies. She had been so terribly cast down, and now her cup of mercy is full and running over. This came from

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putting all so simply into the Lord's hands. Months and years of trial had been Hannah's portion, now a season of joy was given to her.

Let us learn our lesson. "God doth not willingly grieve and afflict His children," but the trouble He sends is for their good. Hannah learnt meekness through the provocation of her adversary; she learnt to pray through her need; she learnt faith through her trials; and lastly, she learnt the character of God, as she shows in her song of praise and thanksgiving. (Chap. iii. 1-11.) No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; but there is a blessing afterwards (Heb. xii. 11), and this is God's purpose in all the trouble He sends His children. Only let us trust Him fully and entirely. He gives more than either we desire or deserve. Samuel was the first of many children, and what a remarkable man he was! Filled with the Holy Spirit from his youth, he became the most devoted servant of God, and a Prophet in Israel.

The answer to Hannah's prayer was truly a full and blessed one. She would never call him by name, or speak of him, or think of him, but it would bring all the past to her mind, and she would say, 'Asked of God,' 'Given by God.'

IV. HANNAH'S SECOND INTERVIEW WITH ELI. (Ver. 26—28.)

Many months had passed away, and Hannah again appeared in the temple. Probably Eli had forgotten the poor sorrowful woman who had once stood disconsolately before him, not even able to

tell him her griefs, and would not recognize Hannah in the joyful mother who now comes with her child, to offer up her praises and thanksgivings. But she fails not to remind him. "Oh, my lord," she says, "I am the woman that stood by thee praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of Him."

Blessed woman! tried in the fire, she had come forth as gold. Prosperity had not turned her head. The lessons she had learnt in the school of adversity, stood by her through life. She had asked for the child that it might be to the glory of God, and now she was training him for the service of God: "I have lent him to the Lord."

Mothers! there is surely something for us to learn here. What are we doing with our children? Are we bringing them up for the Lord? Let us look at it in two ways, and see the duty and the privilege of so doing. The child God gives you is not your own. He says, "Take this child, and nurse it for Me:" and truly He gives wages, for as we sow with our little ones, so we reap when they grow big. We are paid back in our own coin, as the saying is.

Then it is our privilege to bring our infants to Jesus. He says, "Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not." (Mark x. 14.)

Much more remains to be said on this subject, but it is one that must be treated by itself, and it is one that will interest us all; so we will reserve it for our next meeting, when, if it please God, we will study it together.

XI.

THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN.

1 SAMUEL III.

You will remember that the subject of our reading to-day is to be specially on the training or bringing up of our children. Whilst it is our duty and our privilege to bring them up for the Lord, we must also remember the terrible consequences attached to neglect and indifference.

In the chapter just read, we see Samuel "lent to the Lord," and growing up in His service; and we also see Eli's sons, "who made themselves vile, and he restrained them not" (ver. 13), and God's judgments pronounced against them.

We cannot begin too early with our little ones. The moment they come into the world we should receive them as from the Lord. "Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh from the Lord." (Psa. cxxvii. 3.) Regarded in this light, they become doubly precious and interesting to us. Let us, with the examples before us, look at the two ways of education.

I. SAMUEL LENT TO THE LORD.

When we read the whole story of Samuel's birth and subsequent dedication to the Lord, we may be inclined to say, 'This is an extraordinary case, and does not apply to me and to my children.' It is certainly an extraordinary case, but it does not follow that there may not be mothers like Hannah, and children like Samuel, even now. The grace of God is not restrained; and if we pray with Hannah's faith, we may obtain blessings for our children such as rested upon Samuel.

This is the first thing to be thought of in our training: prayer. Before the little voice can be taught to use the words of prayer, we must pray for our infants. As they lie sleeping in our arms, weak, helpless, dependent, we should pray that thus they may lie in the Saviour's arms, and through life may be supported by those Everlasting Arms of love. When we are feeding them, we should ask for them that they might always in like manner “desire and have the sincere milk of the Word, and grow thereby." (1 Peter ii. 2.) Whilst washing them, let us pray that they may be washed and cleansed from all sin, in the Blood of the Lord Jesus. And when dressing them, we might pray that they should be clothed in the spotless Robe of Righteousness wrought for them by Christ Himself.

I ask you, dear mothers, would not this sanctify all that you do for your little one? Would not this deepen your love for it, and would you not feel from