1 Samuel 3

Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're at 1 Samuel chapter 3. Last time we found out that Samuel was growing in stature and he was growing even with his stature with the Lord. So what happens with this little dude? Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll find out.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the blessing of being able to read your word, and we pray that you would please be with us, that your Holy Spirit would lead us, and that you would teach us what we need to hear, and how we can walk before you. In Jesus's name, amen.
Here we go, 1 Samuel chapter 3. Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli, and the word of the Lord was rare in those days. there was no widespread revelation. And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, that Jehovah called Samuel. And he answered, Here I am. So he ran to Eli and said, Here I am, you called me? And he said, I did not call, lie down again. And he went and lay down.
Then the Lord called yet again, Samuel. So Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you called me. He answered, I did not call you, my son, lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know Jehovah, nor was the word of Jehovah yet revealed to him. And Jehovah called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli and said, Here I am, for you did call me. Then Eli perceived that Jehovah had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he calls you, that you must say, Speak, Lord, for your servant hears. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Now Jehovah came and stood and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel answered, Speak, your servant hears. Then the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do something in Israel, at which both ears of everyone who hear it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever."
So Samuel laid down until morning and opened the doors of the house of Yehovah. And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. He answered, here I am. And he said, What is the word that was spoken to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all the things that he said to you. Then Samuel said to him everything and hid from him nothing. And he said, it is of the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.
So Samuel grew, and Jehovah was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of Jehovah. Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of Jehovah. And Samuel came to all Israel.
All right, so we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what do we call to do? So we have little boy Samuel. He's never heard from the Lord before. He's serving in the tabernacle. Eli's going old. He's got cataracts or something. I don't know. His eyes are growing dim. He can hardly see. He's going blind. And Samuel hears from the Lord. He hears him by name. Samuel. Samuel. Gets up, here I am, hinini, goes to Eli, I didn't call you. It's like my kids, when they wake up, they come upstairs to the bedroom, it's like, no, no, no, you're fine, you're fine, just go back to sleep, I'm tired. This happens three times, but on the third time, same one gets his wits about him, realizes, oh, hold on, hold on. It's Jehovah. It's the Lord. It's God who's talking. The covenant God of Israel who's talking to Samuel. And so he says, he kind of coaches him on this. Here's what's going to happen. And so when the Lord comes to him that third time, he says, Samuel, Samuel. And he says, I'm your servant and here I am. So he answers the call.
But then I'm sure the message that the Lord gave to Samuel It says it distressed him or he was afraid. Why? Eli has been raising him his entire life. Elkanah and his mother Hannah, they gave him over to the Lord and only saw him once a year. But he's sitting there and Eli's been like a father to him. And God gives him a message that he didn't restrain. his two sons. These are the guys that are taking flesh hooks and grabbing it out of the sacrifices and taking the best meat and sleeping with the women at the tabernacle, doing all sorts of lewd and horrible things. The Lord has said he's going to remove them for this. He's going to end Eli's line. And I'm sure Samuel hearing this is distressing. He may not want to tell Eli.
So what does a prophet do when he has a message that's hard to tell? Well, he wakes up the next morning and he goes about his business. He doesn't run to Eli with glee, like, hey, guess what God told me? He goes and he starts doing his chores, helping out in the tabernacle. And Eli, he's like, come here, come here, come here. You need to tell me what the Lord said. Don't hide anything. Tell me the bald-faced truth. Don't hide any parts. If you do, the judgment or whatever he told you, if you're afraid to tell me, it's going to be even worse for you. And so Samuel does. He tells him. And Eli responds, all right. The Lord is the judge. And he submits himself to that. I can't speak much for Eli. I don't know what's going on internally. But he's not restrained to sons. He's not removed them from the priesthood. He hasn't brought them to the elders to be judged for their sinfulness. So he receives it.
And what's the result of all this? Samuel continues to grow in stature and the people understand that the Lord himself is the one who established Samuel to be the prophet in Israel. What's this about, right? This is about Samuel becoming the prophet in Israel from the time he's a young boy. What's the best verse to summarize this? Well, in my Bible, I would underline verse 12. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. That's what I would underline in my Bible. Verses, verse 20. Yeah, verse 20. So maybe you underline something different. That's fine.
So let's seek calling. What are we called to do? Well, you know, there's a temptation we may have where we're told by the Lord something. And we may be ashamed to say it. We are a holy nation, a royal priesthood. We have God's word that he's given to us, and every single word is perfect and true, but yet there are times that we may not want to do what he's told us to do. And so, will we give in to our fear, or will we follow the Lord?
Let's pray. Father, we pray, thanking you so much that we may even be afraid to speak of Jesus Christ, But You are our King of Kings, and Father, we pray that we would follow after You. We thank You that You have shown us, revealed to us, Your Son. And we pray that our mouths might be full with good words to speak of the good news of Jesus. In His name we pray. Amen.
Well, may God bless you, and may you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus. I'll see you next time. Bye.