We have playing out here what might be called circumstantial evidence. The demeanour of Hannah resembled that of a drunken fellow. So Eli was quick in asking her to come out of the hangover. Hannah was not drunk, she was grieved. Her condition which was worsened by her adversary was the cause of her grief. What appeared as drunken stupour was her means of crying out to God for intervention. We are often too eager to judge people without knowing the details of their lives. Meanness to people can make them worse off. So we need to be kind more often than not. Ian Maclaren said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. If you cannot help in any way, make sure you don’t add to their burden. The wise will exercise great restraint in condemning people based on external circumstances.

“If you cannot help in any way, make sure you don’t add to their burden. The wise will exercise great restraint in condemning people based on external circumstances.”

There is another angle to Hannah’s story. One would expect a negative reaction to a baseless, negative judgment. She probably could have lashed out on Eli. She did not. Rather, she put things in perspective for the old priest. “But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit. I have drunk neither wine nor intoxicating drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. “Do not consider your maidservant a wicked woman, for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief I have spoken until now.”” (I Samuel 1:15-16 NKJV). Had she reacted negatively, she would have been as guilty as the man who wrongly condemned her. That would have been a case of two wrongs that can never make a right. Her wise handling of the matter led to the benediction. She received the prophecy that her desire had been granted.