Listening

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

LISTENING

1 Samuel 3:1-10

3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 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 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." 5 And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. 6 Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10 The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

NIV

It is time for Samuel to begin to come into his own. He had been under the tutelage of Eli; however, the LORD is not pleased with Eli because he did not restrain his sons from contempt for the command of the LORD about offering unauthorized fire before Him. The LORD promised Eli that not one of his descendants would become an old man, but all would die in the prime of their lives. However, Samuel was dedicated to the LORD even before he was conceived, as Hannah had made a promise to the LORD if He would open her womb. Here, we see the LORD calling Samuel for the first time, but Samuel had not yet heard the voice of God, thinking it was actually Eli. Three times this happened until Eli realized it was the LORD calling Samuel and told him how to answer. This is where we learn our lesson for life. When the LORD called his name, “Samuel! Samuel!” Samuel responded, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” The Lord  always wants to speak to us, and He can speak in various ways. First, through His word, second, through the inspiration of the Spirit within us, and thirdly, by His audible voice. It is possible He could use another person through either a prophetic message, or a word of wisdom or knowledge; however, as with Samuel, the Lord spoke directly to him. We believe the key to the LORD calling to Samuel was that he was in the tabernacle where the ark of the LORD was. Samuel was in the presence of God when he heard the LORD’s voice. That should be a clue for us if we want to hear the voice of the Lord. Of course, we should always be in the presence of our Lord, even if we are not in the sanctuary of the church. We have heard and used that vernacular of asking the people of God if they have prepared themselves to meet with the living God at the beginning of a worship service in church. However, we are living with the Holy Spirit dwelling, or tabernacling within us, which means we are always in His presence or He is always present with us. Still, could we get so distracted by the busyness of our own daily lives that we miss listening to his voice? There is so much noise everywhere throughout our daily activities, it might be difficult to hear His still, small voice within our spirits. Even if he spoke out in a clear verbal word to us, we might not recognize him, because we are too invested in our own sounds. One key would be to spend some alone time early in the morning before our day takes off in a multitude of directions, beginning with worship and listening for his inspiration through His word, or the Spirit, or even from hearing his voice. Although we should always be listening for however He speaks to us, His words are more important than all other words. “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening!”