Speak; for thy servant heareth 1 Samuel 3:1-21

Introduction

Often times in our lives we want to hear from God, but we do not know why we can’t hear from him. This morning we are going to see Samuel hear from the Lord for the first time and become a prophet of the Lord. God is speaking, but are we listening.

The condition of Israel vs. 1

The first thing we will notice is Samuel continuing to ministering to the Lord before Eli.

You might be thinking why is that so interesting and the answer to that is found in the second part of verse 1

The word of the Lord was precious in those days.

precious-Highly valued; much esteemed

there was no open vision.

one commentary said this “A pragmatic American would puzzle over this. His response would be: “No problem; let’s just send more fellows to seminary, to Bible college, or open a prophets’ vo-tech school.” But if the word of the Lord was precious it means that the word from the lord was rare. If a word does not come from The Lord there will be no word of The Lord. Man cannot coerce, manufacture, manipulate, or produce that word. Only Yahweh can give it—and turning out more graduates from theological seminaries or religion departments will do nothing to change that. The word of the Lord is his gift to his people, and in Shiloh time it was seldom given.”

The absence of Gods word was a sign of Gods Judgement

Amos 8:11–12 “11 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, That I will send a famine in the land, Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, But of hearing the words of the Lord: 12 And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”

Psalm 74-turn

The children of Israel wither under The Lords anger which is displayed b the destruction of the temple vs. 3-8

notice in verse 9 there is no longer a prophet

Tragic enough to have The lords sanctuary in smoke; tragic enough when God forces us to walk in darkness—but a silent darkness is unbearable. In Psalm 74 the absence of a prophet’s counsel is part of the misery of God’s judgment.

The Lord Speaks to Samuel vs. 2-9

Notice first the condition of Eli

He was beginning to go blind, but he had spiritually blind for a while, another reason that the Word of the Lord didn’t appear to anyone

The lamp of God had not gone out in the temple of the Lord

Exodus 27:20 “20 And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.”

The Lord calls Samuel the first time vs. 4-5

Notice that as Samuel is sleeping, the Lord called him, so he went to Eli and said Here am I; for thou callest me

Eli told him that he didn’t call him and he needed to go back to sleep, so Samuel did

Samuels second call vs. 6

This call was the exact thing as the first call

Its interesting to note that God’s call was so close that Samuel thought it was Eli calling him right down the hall.

Verse 7 is an interesting verse about Samuel.

If we look back at chapter 2 and verse 12 we would see Eli’s sons knew not the Lord but here when it says the same thing about Samuel, it is because the Lord had never spoken to him.

The Lord called to Samuel the third time vs. 8

Again like before he goes to Eli, and it finally dawns on Eli what is going on

Look at the advice Eli gives Samuel vs. 9

Next time you here the Lord call you say “speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth.

Samuel went back to lay down.

Judgement announced on the house of Eli vs. 10-18

The Lord comes to Samuel a 4th time and when he calls out Samuel, Samuel, and he answers Speak for thy servant heareth.

The Lord giving Prophecy to Samuel vs. 11-14

The Lord told Samuel that the judgement he announced to Eli was about to happen

1 Samuel 2:27-36- read

Judgement was coming on the house of Eli due to his sons vile wickedness and the fact that Eli did nothing about it.

After the Lord revealed the prophecy to Samuel, he laid awake until morning, and then opened the doors of the temple.

I can imagine that a relationship had formed between Eli and Samuel as he used terms like my son when addressing him, so how hard would it be to know that the Lord is about to judge Eli

Samuel didn’t want to tell Eli what was said, but Eli told him to tell him all that the lord said or what was happening to him would happen to Samuel as well.

Samuel told him every whit and hid nothing from him

a whit is A point; a jot; the smallest part or particle imaginable.

It seems as though Eli surrendered to his fate knowing the Lord will do what is good.

Samuel established as a prophet vs. 19-21

Notice Samuel grew and the Lord was with him

It should be important to us that the Lord is with us as we grow.

No words that Samuel spoke fell to the ground

All of Israel knew that Samuel was the Lords prophet, and the Lord continued to appear to Samuel in Shiloh.

Its amazing to think back to Hannah, who wanted a Son so bad that she promised if the Lord gave her a son she would give him back for the Lord to use and because of that, the Lord used Samuel as a Prophet to all Israel. God doesn’t do anything by accident.

How does this apply to my life today?

The Lord doesn’t verbally speak to us anymore as he did in the Old Testament and a few times in the new Testament, but it would be foolish to think that the Lord doesn’t speak to us any more.

The Lord Speaks through the Holy Spirits direction of our life

John 14:26 “26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”

The Lord speaks through his word

Psalm 119:105 “105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And a light unto my path.”

I remember wrestling with God when he called me to preach, I came up with every excuse I could, and then as I was reading my Bible at church camp in 2011, I came to Joshua 1:9 “9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” and I knew that God would be with me whatever he called me to do

The Lord speaks through his church

Colossians 3:16–17 “16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. 17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

The Lord speaks through creation

Romans 1:19–20 “19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

What keeps us from hearing from God

Sin- do we have unconfessed sin in our life that is keeping us from hearing from God

Expectation- Do we wake up expecting God to speak to us?

Conclusion

Do you want to hear from God?

Are you hear this morning and you have never trusted Chris tas your personal saviour? You will never hear from him until you do. come this morning and we ca show you from Gods word how you can be saved.