Samuel
Open Your Bible
1 Samuel 2:12–26, 1 Samuel 3:1-21, Exodus 27:20–21
BY Erin Davis
I was in the sixth grade the first time I felt a desire to open my Bible on my own. I’d had a particularly rough day at school (aren’t middle school girls the worst?), and as I sobbed into my New Kids on the Block pillow, suddenly my pink Precious Moments Bible seemed to call to me from the bookshelf. It wasn’t an audible sound, just a subtle heart tug toward the Word of God I’d never felt before that moment. I didn’t know a psalm from a proverb, couldn’t articulate the gospel, and had no way of knowing how God’s Word would eventually transform me. I just knew I needed comfort and thought the Bible might be a straw worth grasping for.
A tiny spark was kindled, but the ember was enough to keep me reading through middle school and into high school, when I would eventually surrender my life to Christ. The spark is now a bonfire that consumes my life. Like the psalmist, I declare, “Instruction from your lips is better for me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119:72). God’s Word is my greatest treasure.
The Bible tells us, “Samuel did not yet know the Lord, because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him” (1 Samuel 3:7). And yet the Lord was clearly speaking to the boy. Though Samuel’s inexperience with the voice of God made him slow to respond, the Lord kept patiently nudging until eventually, “Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and he fulfilled everything Samuel prophesied. All Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the Lord” (vv.19–20).
He is the hound of heaven. He pursues us when we are still running in glad rebellion. He woos us when our hearts are still turned toward lesser loves. He shepherds before we, His sheep, can distinguish the sound of His voice. Truly, “God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Samuel learned to serve the God who speaks. I have learned to love the One whose story I first glimpsed in the pages of a little pink Bible. It’s true that when we seek, we find Him. And when we knock, He always opens the door (Matthew 7:7–8). But the Lord, in His kindness, also whispers to us before our hearts know how to listen. He loves us, even if our hearts are too broken to love Him back (1 John 4:9). Because He speaks, we can know Him—and that is a reason to rejoice.
28 thoughts on "Samuel"
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This read has helped me see again the patience of God towards us. Three times He called Samuel in an ‘invisible’ way, and when Samuel was ready to listen to Him, He came and stood!
Many times I have felt like that is what I needed, for God to come down and just be before me as He speaks. This read also made me realise that it’s possible for one to be in service for the Lord, even in the house of God, yet not know Him. Samuel was there since after being weaned, and yet he had not known the word/voice of God until that moment Eli told him how to respond.A contrast between Eli and Samuel: Eli knew the voice he no longer heard, Samuel heard the voice he did not know! Lord speak afresh to us and let us be the sheep who know the voice of the Shepherd
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Me too
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I just love when God gives me an “aha!” moment. Reading the verses in Exodus of God’s command to keep the lamp burning, it struck me that God wants to keep the lamp of His Spirit burning in my heart and this is done by reading His Word. Thank you Lord for another “aha!” moment .
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I, too, had a pink precious moments Bible. I just went to see NKOTB tonight with my own daughter! Thankfully, she has been raised differently than me and is already well versed in the word of God even though she is only 10. We never know when God will call us. We need to be mindful to spend time quietly listening for Him.
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Erin!! I was so touched by your story! So sweet and tender. So thankful that you opened up that pink little Bible in the six grade. I had to laugh when you mentioned New Kids on the Block pillow case because it reminds me how OLD I am, but I can still learn from younger women. And it gives me hope for my daughter who is going in 8th grade. Her life changed dramatically two years ago. I’m so thankful for all the adult leaders at our church and her mentor were speaking into her life. I’m thankful that she loves Jesus and praying that her heart and her mind will heal completely someday soon.
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This verse really speaks to me “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn.” It is our responsibly to I keep our lamps burning inside through dedicated service, prayer, scripture study, fasting, paying our tithes etc. I love that these little acts of oil that keep our lamps burning may seem like hard work but in the end our Savior will reward us with grace, and forgiveness to live in his kingdom for eternity.
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I see a stark contrast in Eli’s sons blatant disobedience to the laws of God and Samuel’s devoted desire to learn to know God better and obey. Hophni and Phineas were born into a prestigious position of exacting the atonement for the sins of the people in God’s temple. They seemed to not only take that for granted, but to reject the honor they were to give God. Samuel on the other hand was a servant in God’s house with no prestige from little up. His “bosses” were not good examples and yet, in his simple innocence, Samuel remained true. Samuel did what was right in his service, daily, period. Nothing more, nothing less unless/until God directed him.
As a public school teacher, I want to serve in my calling, faithful to the Lord where He has me, irregardless of the support or lack of it I receive from my “bosses.” Instead of whining when it is difficult, my prayer is that I will find joy in the service of my King even in the difficult or lonely places.
As an afterthought, I think that Hannah’s depth of love and devotion to the Lord and Samuel, tied to her obedience to keep the vow she made to the Lord, had to have had a huge impact on her son. What kind of impact do I have on my children and grandchildren? Do they see the depth of devotion and love for the Lord in my life lived out?
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Annika, I’m so glad you caught the thing about the lamp! I missed the reference in 1 Samuel 3:3 and couldn’t figure out why the Exodus passage was included. Thanks for your insight!
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