After years spent focused on the things of God - on the daily and inner workings of the Tabernacle at Shiloh, the regular offerings, sacrifices, and rituals that gave shape to the worship of God's people, the reading and hearing of the words of the Law of Moses - Samuel found himself at the Edge. In spite of all his work, all his activity at Shiloh, the Bible reveals to us that "Samuel did not yet know the LORD, for the word of the LORD had not yet come to him."
The Edge found Samuel late one night in the Tabernacle. The duties of the day were long ended. Eli the High Priest was already down for the night and Samuel was lying in the Tabernacle itself. As he laid there, Samuel heard someone call his name, "Samuel, Samuel." It begins as somewhat of a comical scene... he gets us and goes to where Eli is resting. "Here I am. You called me." The old man looked up at him and said, "I didn't call you. Go back and lie down!" A few minutes later, the scene repeats itself... with the same results. "I didn't call you. Go and lie down." (It's here in 1 Samuel 3:7 that Scripture tells us Samuel didn't know God yet - maybe that's why he didn't recognize the voice who called him.)
The entire scene repeats itself one more time and, finally, a lightbulb goes off for Eli (so to speak). It dawns on the priest that it is God calling, so he tells his young apprentice, "Go back. When the Voice calls you again say, 'Speak, LORD, your servant is listening."
Samuel obeys - all hint of sleep a retreating memory - and lays back down. Soon, he hears it again, "Samuel, Samuel."
"Speak, your servant is listening."
It's such a simple prayer. Yet, it is deeply profound in it's importance and implication. Think about what Samuel prays at that Edge -
Speak - Although Samuel hadn't experienced it for himself, he knew that God is not silent, but communicates with his people. Samuel knew about God speaking with those who had gone before - Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Miriam, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon and so many others. He had probably heard Eli relate stories of those earlier times when God had even spoken to Eli himself. Literally from the beginning of time, God has communicated with his creation. Genesis says God spoke creation - from galaxies to mountains to seas to plants, animals and human beings - into being. Speaking, communication is an essential part of how God relates to creation, including us.
Even though Samuel had not experienced it for himself, yet, he expected it. It wasn't as odd a thought for him as it is for us and our contemporaries. God speaks to his people. God speaks to us.
Part of the reason for this confident expectation of Samuel's came through the truth of the one word he leaves out of his prayer that Eli suggested. The word - a name, actually - was "Yahweh". It is usually translated as "LORD" in English. Even though, in English, we use the "LORD" as a synonym for "God", it was so much more than that for Samuel and his contemporaries. It was the name of God. The name revealed to Moses when, at the burning bush, he asked "If they ask who sent me, who do I say sent me? What's your name?" The name, Yahweh, means "I am", and it tells of the essence and character of God. "I am" is personal to his people. "I am" is dynamic, active, relational and expectant with his people.
Because Samuel knew this to be true, he could expectantly pray, "Speak..."
Your Servant - Samuel had grown up with a clear understanding of who he was and how he related to God, to the One who was calling him that night. This was inspite of the example he saw around him in Eli's family. The High Priest's two sons - Hophni and Phinehas - served as priests alongside their father, but they did not have a heart for God so much as for their own passions and pleasures. The contrast between Samuel and these two was stark. It was stunning. In 1 Samuel 2, Hophni and Phinehas are described as "worthless men" who "treated the Lord's offering with contempt" and would even take sexual advantage of women at the Tabernacle itself. In the midst of the description of the evils of these two men, we read of Samuel - "Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and favor with the LORD and also with men." What a contrast.
As Samuel spoke the words of this prayer from the Edge, he saw his place in relation to God and in contrast to Eli's sons. He knew he was God's servant.
Now, it is easy for our contemporary ears to hear the word "servant" in a negative way. We too often hear it as "less than", "disposable", or a "necessary evil". Not so here in 1 Samuel (or throughout the Bible for that matter). To be a servant certainly meant that you were subordinate to another - to a master - but it did not mean you were less than other people around you. Two quick examples of this...
First, from Samuel's own story.... Ultimately, who was "less" in this passage of Israel's history - Samuel, the servant of God, or the self-indulgent, arrogant priests Hophni and Phinehas? Clearly, Samuel's character, faith, and faithfulness put him on a much higher plane than the sons of Eli.
The second example of how one can be a servant and not be less than anyone else is Jesus himself. Isaiah 53 describes him as a "suffering servant" who's servanthood would do more for humanity's relationship with God than all the combined efforts of every human being throughout history. In Philippians 2 (in the New Testament), the writer - a guy named Paul - describes Jesus as the obedient servant who is exalted above everyone else in all of creation.
At the Edge of faith, Samuel recognized and acknowledged who he was in relation to God. As he prayed, he was about to experience that relationship moving to a new, deeper, more profound level.
"Speak, your servant..."
Is Listening - In this account of Samuel and his prayer from the Edge, we are reminded of one of the most amazing truths found in the Bible - from the opening pages to the final verses.
Yahweh, the LORD, the God of the Bible calls and invites us into a two-way relationship with himself. There is communication, conversation, dialogue, and friendship within a true relationship with God.
It was one thing for Samuel to acknowlege that God seeks to communicate with people when he prayed, "Speak...". It's quite another - and completes the communication relationship - to pray, "I'm listening." Why? Glad you asked....
Have you ever had one of those conversations during which one person says with frustration, hurt and maybe a bit of anger, "You're not listening to me!"? Do they mean our ears aren't picking up the sounds they are making? Do they mean we have our sensory attention focused somewhere other than them? (Sometime, perhaps.) Or, do they mean we are not "hearing" the meaning, the emotions, the hope or fear, the longing behind the words falling from their lips?
One of the most valuable elements in any healthy relationship is the ability to hear and be heard beyond the surface level of our words. We want those we love adn care about to hear our hearts. It's clear from the Bible that God wants that in our relationship with him as well.
"Speak, your servant is listening." The ESV translates is as "Speak, your servant hears."
--------------------------------
In the middle of the night, the young man, Samuel, is awakened and finds he is standing at the Edge. He discovers that the God he has heard and known about wants to be known by him and wants a relationship with him that will ripple out far from his own life. This night, in this meeting of Samuel and the God he has served without knowing personally, God calls the young man to be a prophet - the spokesman of God to his people and the people around them. Everything in his life had led up to this encounter at the Edge. Samuel's prayer - and God's answer to it - changed the course not only of Samuel's life, but that of God's people, Israel, as well.
Have you been to this Edge - the Edge of faith, the Edge of trust, the Edge of a relationship with God? If not, I encourage you to get there. If you are there now... take a deep breath. Relax. When you hear God call out to your spirit, your heart, your life follow Samuel's lead...
"Speak, LORD, your servant is listening."
The Edge found Samuel late one night in the Tabernacle. The duties of the day were long ended. Eli the High Priest was already down for the night and Samuel was lying in the Tabernacle itself. As he laid there, Samuel heard someone call his name, "Samuel, Samuel." It begins as somewhat of a comical scene... he gets us and goes to where Eli is resting. "Here I am. You called me." The old man looked up at him and said, "I didn't call you. Go back and lie down!" A few minutes later, the scene repeats itself... with the same results. "I didn't call you. Go and lie down." (It's here in 1 Samuel 3:7 that Scripture tells us Samuel didn't know God yet - maybe that's why he didn't recognize the voice who called him.)
The entire scene repeats itself one more time and, finally, a lightbulb goes off for Eli (so to speak). It dawns on the priest that it is God calling, so he tells his young apprentice, "Go back. When the Voice calls you again say, 'Speak, LORD, your servant is listening."
Samuel obeys - all hint of sleep a retreating memory - and lays back down. Soon, he hears it again, "Samuel, Samuel."
"Speak, your servant is listening."
It's such a simple prayer. Yet, it is deeply profound in it's importance and implication. Think about what Samuel prays at that Edge -
Speak - Although Samuel hadn't experienced it for himself, he knew that God is not silent, but communicates with his people. Samuel knew about God speaking with those who had gone before - Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Miriam, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon and so many others. He had probably heard Eli relate stories of those earlier times when God had even spoken to Eli himself. Literally from the beginning of time, God has communicated with his creation. Genesis says God spoke creation - from galaxies to mountains to seas to plants, animals and human beings - into being. Speaking, communication is an essential part of how God relates to creation, including us.
Even though Samuel had not experienced it for himself, yet, he expected it. It wasn't as odd a thought for him as it is for us and our contemporaries. God speaks to his people. God speaks to us.
Part of the reason for this confident expectation of Samuel's came through the truth of the one word he leaves out of his prayer that Eli suggested. The word - a name, actually - was "Yahweh". It is usually translated as "LORD" in English. Even though, in English, we use the "LORD" as a synonym for "God", it was so much more than that for Samuel and his contemporaries. It was the name of God. The name revealed to Moses when, at the burning bush, he asked "If they ask who sent me, who do I say sent me? What's your name?" The name, Yahweh, means "I am", and it tells of the essence and character of God. "I am" is personal to his people. "I am" is dynamic, active, relational and expectant with his people.
Because Samuel knew this to be true, he could expectantly pray, "Speak..."
Your Servant - Samuel had grown up with a clear understanding of who he was and how he related to God, to the One who was calling him that night. This was inspite of the example he saw around him in Eli's family. The High Priest's two sons - Hophni and Phinehas - served as priests alongside their father, but they did not have a heart for God so much as for their own passions and pleasures. The contrast between Samuel and these two was stark. It was stunning. In 1 Samuel 2, Hophni and Phinehas are described as "worthless men" who "treated the Lord's offering with contempt" and would even take sexual advantage of women at the Tabernacle itself. In the midst of the description of the evils of these two men, we read of Samuel - "Now the young man Samuel continued to grow both in stature and favor with the LORD and also with men." What a contrast.
As Samuel spoke the words of this prayer from the Edge, he saw his place in relation to God and in contrast to Eli's sons. He knew he was God's servant.
Now, it is easy for our contemporary ears to hear the word "servant" in a negative way. We too often hear it as "less than", "disposable", or a "necessary evil". Not so here in 1 Samuel (or throughout the Bible for that matter). To be a servant certainly meant that you were subordinate to another - to a master - but it did not mean you were less than other people around you. Two quick examples of this...
First, from Samuel's own story.... Ultimately, who was "less" in this passage of Israel's history - Samuel, the servant of God, or the self-indulgent, arrogant priests Hophni and Phinehas? Clearly, Samuel's character, faith, and faithfulness put him on a much higher plane than the sons of Eli.
The second example of how one can be a servant and not be less than anyone else is Jesus himself. Isaiah 53 describes him as a "suffering servant" who's servanthood would do more for humanity's relationship with God than all the combined efforts of every human being throughout history. In Philippians 2 (in the New Testament), the writer - a guy named Paul - describes Jesus as the obedient servant who is exalted above everyone else in all of creation.
At the Edge of faith, Samuel recognized and acknowledged who he was in relation to God. As he prayed, he was about to experience that relationship moving to a new, deeper, more profound level.
"Speak, your servant..."
Is Listening - In this account of Samuel and his prayer from the Edge, we are reminded of one of the most amazing truths found in the Bible - from the opening pages to the final verses.
Yahweh, the LORD, the God of the Bible calls and invites us into a two-way relationship with himself. There is communication, conversation, dialogue, and friendship within a true relationship with God.
It was one thing for Samuel to acknowlege that God seeks to communicate with people when he prayed, "Speak...". It's quite another - and completes the communication relationship - to pray, "I'm listening." Why? Glad you asked....
Have you ever had one of those conversations during which one person says with frustration, hurt and maybe a bit of anger, "You're not listening to me!"? Do they mean our ears aren't picking up the sounds they are making? Do they mean we have our sensory attention focused somewhere other than them? (Sometime, perhaps.) Or, do they mean we are not "hearing" the meaning, the emotions, the hope or fear, the longing behind the words falling from their lips?
One of the most valuable elements in any healthy relationship is the ability to hear and be heard beyond the surface level of our words. We want those we love adn care about to hear our hearts. It's clear from the Bible that God wants that in our relationship with him as well.
"Speak, your servant is listening." The ESV translates is as "Speak, your servant hears."
--------------------------------
In the middle of the night, the young man, Samuel, is awakened and finds he is standing at the Edge. He discovers that the God he has heard and known about wants to be known by him and wants a relationship with him that will ripple out far from his own life. This night, in this meeting of Samuel and the God he has served without knowing personally, God calls the young man to be a prophet - the spokesman of God to his people and the people around them. Everything in his life had led up to this encounter at the Edge. Samuel's prayer - and God's answer to it - changed the course not only of Samuel's life, but that of God's people, Israel, as well.
Have you been to this Edge - the Edge of faith, the Edge of trust, the Edge of a relationship with God? If not, I encourage you to get there. If you are there now... take a deep breath. Relax. When you hear God call out to your spirit, your heart, your life follow Samuel's lead...
"Speak, LORD, your servant is listening."
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