1 Samuel 3:9, commentary and pictures

After Eli had failed to restrain his sons, God passed him by to call the child Samuel to declare judgment upon his house, and after three unrecognized calls Eli without envy directed him how to answer, though being set aside for a child was itself a deserved rebuke. When the voice came again Samuel answered in awe as a servant listening, so overcome that he could not remember the exact words he had been told. The words supply the attitude of every heart toward God, that of a humble, attentive servant asking Him to speak and ready to receive instruction and obey without making terms. That listening requires laying aside self-confidence, stubbornness and self-will to become meek learners with self crucified and the will surrendered to every divine precept. It is the answer every Christian, not ministers alone, must give to God's call to work, and God still so instructs and molds even children and youth to fit them as His messengers to do a work adults could not do.

Setting and Wording

Eli had failed to restrain his sons and honor God, so the Lord ceased speaking to him and called the young Samuel to make known the judgment to fall upon Eli and his household, underscoring the seriousness of failing to train and correct children. After three calls that neither at first understood, Eli perceived the Lord was calling and told Samuel to go lie down in his place and answer if called again, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth, with no envy or jealousy. That the Lord should pass by the aged priest to commune with a child was itself a bitter yet deserved rebuke to Eli and his house. When the voice came again Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth, omitting the name of the Lord because he was so awed at the thought that the great God should speak to him that he could not remember the exact words he had been told to say.

Samuel was a mere child set amid the most corrupting influences, seeing and hearing things that grieved his soul, for Eli's sons ministered in holy office while controlled by Satan and polluted the whole atmosphere around them, while men and women were daily fascinated with sin and wrong. He walked untainted with spotless robes of character, having no fellowship with or delight in the sins that filled all Israel with fearful reports. He loved God and kept his soul in such close connection with Heaven, united to God and angels as one who sees not and hears not evil, joining his ignorance to Christ's wisdom and his weakness to His strength. An angel was sent to talk with him about the sins of Eli's sons that were corrupting Israel, and his experience proves that youth may hold principles so firm that even Satan's most powerful temptations cannot draw them from allegiance as they fight the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life.

Samuel was being educated for the Lord in his youth and serving God from childhood when God passed by the aged Eli to address and teach the child and speak with him. In thus using a mere child to do a good and gracious work, the Lord claims young men as His helping hand.

Meaning of Listening Answer

The words supply the response of a humble, attentive servant ready to listen, receive instruction, and obey. They are to be used as a sincere prayer asking God to speak and pledging the hearer to attend to His word, to listen attentively and reverently for guidance in considering plans and deciding what He would have done. When hearts are awakened by the Spirit this readiness to listen and receive instruction is the attitude every heart should hold.

To take this listening position is to close the ears to the inconsistency and folly seen on the earth and to magnify God as the one in whom hopes of eternal life are centered. Lived out in education, it requires refusing books that sow seeds of infidelity and doubt and making the knowledge of God as Creator and Redeemer and the plan of redemption the foundation. The posture requires setting aside self-confidence, stubbornness, and self-will to become humble learners dependent on God's Spirit, and then hearers can hear and accept the light He sends.

The words are the language of meekness, never boasting but humble waiting upon God and submission of the will to Him, approaching Him with a servant's willingness to listen and be directed as the child did. In that meekness the understanding grasps every divine truth and the will bows to every divine precept without doubting or murmuring. True meekness softens and subdues the heart and gives the mind fitness for the ingrafted word, bringing the thoughts into obedience to Christ, opening the heart to the word of God, and placing the speaker as a learner at His feet.

They are the language of the heart when self is crucified and the stubborn will is subdued, meaning entire surrender to God whose the speaker is and whom he serves. To speak them is to yield one's own will to God's will and ask to be spoken to and instructed as His servant. Those who truly say them will not remain as fixed stars, cold and immovable, maintaining selfish, worldly dignity, but will show a beautiful blending of purity, elevation, and nobility with meekness and lowliness. The readiness means hearing and obeying without making terms, accepting the truth with rejoicing and then being willing to make any move and every sacrifice if called, even while feeling unqualified for sacred work and little in one's own eyes.

The willing servant's readiness also means being ready to receive God's message through whoever He chooses. It affirms that God remains free to speak rather than being bound to silence, and it supplies the language of a prayer asking Him to speak through whomever He chooses.

Call to Present Service

Samuel stands as the model for all entrusted with important service, showing the vital connection with God they must maintain. Those in such trust are to look to heaven for direction as consecrated agents, listening and ready to obey whenever the divine voice speaks. The instructed reply expresses the attitude required of God's servants, attentiveness to Him and readiness for duty, to hear and follow what is said.

That listening, obedient reply is the answer every Christian must give to the call to work. It belongs not to ministers alone but to every man and woman who has joined the Lord's army, with none excluded from the working force. Each is Christ's property in body, soul, and spirit, stationed as a sentinel at his post and a soldier in his rank, for the Christian life is not ease and rest but earnest work. All must fight the battles of the Lord through coming trials and testing of faith until the work closes, when every person receives reward according to deeds done.

Those who answer in this readiness to hear and obey without making terms are the ones chosen for use in saving souls. Such readiness means coming to the point of accepting the truth with rejoicing, then being willing to make any move and every sacrifice if called, even while feeling unqualified for sacred work and little in one's own eyes. Their appointed part is not necessarily to preach doctrinal discourses but to reach hearts by personal effort and win them for Christ and the truth.

God prepared Samuel for His work and made him a bearer of sacred truth, and He likewise prepares people of every age, even children, for service. He called the child Samuel to make His message known, and He calls children today to share the truth. He remains willing to reveal Himself to children.

The Lord communicated with Samuel as a child, instructing and molding his mind, and He can still communicate with children and youth in the same way now. Children and youth are more impressible, while older persons can become so set in their own course that although messages are sent to them as they were to Eli, they do not hear with a firm will to obey. By such instruction God fits even children to be His messengers and workers. From the youth He thus raises up a large army of workers for Christ to do a work that adults could not do.