15, 16. (a) How was Hannah affected by opening her heart to Jehovah and worshipping him at the tabernacle? (b) How might we follow Hannah’s example when we struggle with negative feelings?

¹⁵ What was the effect on Hannah of opening her heart to Jehovah and worshipping him there at his tabernacle? The account reads: “The woman proceeded to go on her way and to eat, and her face became self-concerned no more.” (1 Sam. 1:18) The Jerusalem Bible here reads: “Her countenance was no more sad.” Hannah felt relieved. She had, in a sense, transferred the weight of her emotional burden to shoulders infinitely broader and stronger than her own, those of her heavenly Father. (Read Psalm 55:22.) Is any problem too heavy for him? No​—not then, not now, not ever!

¹⁶ When we feel loaded down, overwhelmed, or overcome with sadness, we do well to follow Hannah’s example and speak openly to the One whom the Bible calls the “Hearer of prayer.” (Ps. 65:2) If we do so in faith, we too may find that our sadness is replaced by “the peace of God that excels all thought.”​—Phil. 4:6, 7.

¹⁸ Just when did Peninnah realize that she had lost her power to upset Hannah? The account does not say, but the expression “self-concerned no more” suggests that Hannah’s spirits rose from that time forward. At any rate, Peninnah soon found that her spiteful conduct produced no effect. The Bible never mentions her name again.