Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, October 16, 2021
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Actions speak louder than words. Yeah, it’s a cliché. But also true. Here Hannah is singing her joy at God’s gift of a son, and she calls out people who have a lot to say about things, but who are ultimately hypocrites. I wonder if she’s tagging anyone specific. After all, her husband’s other wife, Peninah, had been pretty rotten to her, goading and shaming her for being childless when she herself, Peninah, had given Elkanah sons. Maybe Peninah, who saw herself as superior to Hannah, felt that she deserved God’s favor in some way. Maybe she bragged about how wonderful she was, how blessed by God, how her ability to have sons proved she was worthy. And, of course, the very act of her bragging is an action that betrays her unworthiness. God knows the heart and God rewarded Hannah in the end because of Hannah’s humility. I’m stretching, I know. Call it midrash. But it seems like a kind of pointed verse in Hannah’s prayer.
I don’t know that I can think of anyone particular in my life who talks the big talk while acting in less-than-stellar ways on the QT. Other than myself, of course. I have had moments in my life when I’ve presented myself in a certain way while knowing all the while I wasn’t all I was presenting myself to be. Maybe it was self-preservation. Maybe it was a defense mechanism. Or maybe I’m just human. I guess the good news is that even if this is nothing more than a diss track on Peninah, even a deserved one, God still loved Peninah. And God still loves me. And you.
When have my actions not matched my words?