Ears to Hear

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

EARS TO HEAR

1 Sam 3:11-21

11 And the LORD said to Samuel: "See, I am about to do something in Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. 12 At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I spoke against his family — from beginning to end. 13 For I told him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he knew about; his sons made themselves contemptible, and he failed to restrain them. 14 Therefore, I swore to the house of Eli, 'The guilt of Eli's house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.'" 15 Samuel lay down until morning and then opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, "Samuel, my son." Samuel answered, "Here I am." 17 "What was it he said to you?" Eli asked. "Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you." 18 So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then Eli said, "He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes." 19 The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD. 21 The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.

NIV

We can only believe the word of the LORD came to Samuel in an audible voice as he revealed his judgment on the house of Eli. Although Samuel did not want to tell Eli what the LORD would do, Eli told him he could not without the word of the LORD, so Samuel told him everything. Eli's response is our first lesson to ponder. What Eli heard was not the best news about the fate of his descendants; however, Eli still submitted to the will of the LORD, affirming the absolute sovereignty of God, and that Eli was content with the LORD doing whatever was right in His eyes. It makes us wonder how willing we are to submit to the absolute authority of the Lord over our lives, especially if we are going through a rough patch or having some physical difficulties. We wonder how much of our prayer is like that of Israel, always crying out to the Lord, asking for his deliverance, or have we come to a place where we know the Lord has already delivered us from the penalty of death, and in fact, death itself, and we are content with our lot in life, whatsoever it is. The second lesson comes from the statement that the LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. This means that whatever Samuel spoke, it was received as from the LORD, or whatever predictions or prophetic words Samuel uttered, the LORD fulfilled, as Samuel first heard from the LORD. All of Israel attested that Samuel was a prophet of the LORD. We would believe that we are not a prophet of the Lord; however, that does not preclude having a prophetic word from the Lord. God is still able to reveal his will, which, of course, he has already done through the written record of his word. He has revealed through the vision he gave John of what is yet to happen, a prophecy of what is to come. In addition, because we have the Spirit dwelling within us, who reveals all the truth of God to us, we can be assured of what the Lord has done, is doing, and will do, both in our lives and in the world. The Lord is always ready to reveal himself to us if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. That may be one of the difficult areas in our lives, to have ears to hear, or a spirit who is willing to listen to the word of the Lord without any of our preconceived notions, or prejudices about the meaning of his word. What we need is to watch and listen as the Lord continues to reveal himself to us and through us, and then others can attest that we are children of God. Let us always have an open spirit and ears to hear what the Lord has to say. As Samuel had a good reputation for being a prophet of the Lord, we should always have a good reputation for being a child of God, and we have ears to hear.