“Speak, for Your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3    The Prophetic Call to Samuel

 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.

² It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well), ³ and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, ⁴ that the Lord called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down. ⁶ The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.” ⁷ Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him. ⁸ So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

¹⁰ Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” ¹¹ The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹² In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³ For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them. ¹⁴ Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

¹⁵ So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶ Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷ He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.” ¹⁸ So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”

¹⁹ Thus Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fail. ²⁰ All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹ And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.

Verse one of today's text says: Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.   To give a brief background, Samuel had been dedicated to the Lord and the temple ministry from the time he was very young. So even though he is still a boy, he has been ministering in the temple for a number of years. We see in verses 4-6 that God speaks to Samuel, calling him with an audible voice. Samuel believes it to be his mentor Eli who is calling him and runs to him saying here I am. In verse 7 we see an interesting statement regarding Samuel, who has been ministering for the Lord for years. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.

Sadly this same thing can be said of many in the church today. They have been ministering and serving the Lord, yet they do not know the Lord or have not had a revelation of Him. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:8-9:    For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; ⁹ not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

 Knowledge of and belief in God and Jesus is not enough. James writes of this balance between our faith and our works in James 2:14-20

¹⁴ What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? ¹⁷ Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. ¹⁸ But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” ¹⁹ You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. ²⁰ But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?

We are not saved by our works, but the knowledge of who Jesus is and the tremendous gift that we have in our salvation through Him, leads us to works and service along with love, in response to what He has done and who He is to us. The greater the revelation of Jesus in our lives the more we will be moved to serve and minister for Him.

Yet sadly again there will be some, even many, that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7:21-23, who participate in the things of Christ, serving and ministering in His name, without ever knowing Him.

 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ 

Returning to our text, we see that Samuel needed to be instructed to listen for and know the voice of the Lord.    Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy.  And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.    Samuel had been faithful to minister and serve, but everything he knew, his experience was centered around the voice of his mentor Eli. So it is natural that when he heard the voice he attributed it to Eli. Again, today we see those who can fall into the same thing. While it is good and neccessary to have teachers and spiritual mentors in our lives, each one of us needs to learn to hear the Lord's voice, not just the voice of a teacher, mentor or pastor. Their voice should always guide us to His voice. We are to become disciples and followers of Christ. Any teacher or group that stresses membership or allegiance to them over Christ is some one or something to run from.

Jesus says: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.(John 14:6)   That statement comes between these two verses.   Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” and   If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”

Knowing Jesus and knowing the Father are the most important things we can ever do. It is only in knowing them that we can truly respond to and receive from them. We only truly know those we spend quality time with. In our relationships with people we have those who are aquaintances, those who are casual friends and those who are true close friends. The true friends are the ones who we know well and who know us well. That type of friendship is born out time spent together and sharing an intamcy and vulnerability. The same is true of our relationship with Jesus and the Father. If we want to truly know them we need to spend time with them, intimate times of worship, prayer and devotion.  

In our text we then see God again coming to Samuel and calling to him. This time though Samuel knows it is the voice of God calling him into his destiny.    Then the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”      Samuel went on to become one of the greatest spiritual leaders in the history of the nation of Israel. It began with his response to the voice of God, with his knowing God not just knowing about Him and ministering and serving Him.

God calls to each one of us. He has a plan and a purpose for each of His children. Others may help us to understand what God has for us, but we each individually need to, like Samuel come to know the voice of the Lord and say:  

 “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”  

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit, that You not only have called me to redemption and salvation, but that You call me to know You. Through the finished work of the cross I can spend time with You. Thank You that in knowing Jesus I also know the Father. Thank You that You have come to live in me by Your Holy Spirit, so that I might know Your voice. Today Lord I say: 

“Speak, for Your servant is listening.”  

Amen