Samuel did not yet know the Lord

1 Samuel 2:22-3 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Now Eli was very old; and he heard all that his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who served at the doorway of the tent of meeting. ²³ He said to them, “Why do you do such things, the evil things that I hear from all these people? ²⁴ No, my sons; for the report is not good which I hear the Lord’s people circulating. ²⁵ If one man sins against another, God will mediate for him; but if a man sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for the Lord desired to put them to death. ²⁶ Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men…

3 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.”

In today’s text it says: Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.     Samuel had been dedicated to temple worship and ministry from the time he was very young. Today’s text is the account of the transfer of authority from Eli and his family to Samuel. I find it interesting that Samuel had been ministering and serving the Lord for some time, yet in today’s text it says:    Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.   Samuel was working, serving, worshiping and studying the word, yet it says he did not yet know the Lord. In Samuel’s case it wasn’t that he did anything wrong, it was really simply a matter of God’s timing. He, like so many others we see raised up from humble beginnings to greatness was being prepared. He was preparing and waiting for God’s plan and His timing.

This idea of being with and serving God without truly knowing Him is not something unusual. In John 14:7-9 Jesus has the following interchange with Phillip and the disciples:  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”  Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”  Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?   What about us? Is it possible that we may have been with Jesus a long time, is it possible that we may even be ministering and serving in the church yet not know the Lord? Sometimes we can be so busy doing  things for the Lord we really don’t know Him. Jesus says the first and foremost commandment is: YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.   The first and foremost thing is not that we should serve Him, but that we should love Him.

We know God not by our service, but by our time spent with Him, time in worship, time in devotion and prayer. Samuel did not realize that he was hearing the voice of God because the word had not been revealed to him. How will we know the voice of God, how will we recognize His leading and His direction if we spend more time listening to all the voices in the world? How will we know the voice of God, how will we know God Himself if we spend more time watching TV or surfing the net than sitting in His presence.  We need to know God’s voice even above the voice of Biblical teachers. We should know God’s word so that we can trust what is revealed to us.

The psalmist says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. Samuel was being prepared to be the spiritual leader of the nation of Israel.  We too are being prepared for a great work of God. But in order to fulfill our purpose to do what He has called us to do we first must know Him. First and foremost we must love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. This knowledge and love is formed and founded in our time alone with Him.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit my desire is to know You, to love You. Like Samuel I am waiting and preparing to respond when I hear Your voice. When You call to me I will say: Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.   Amen