Your Servant Hears

Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.”

-- 1 Samuel 3:10

When Samuel was a young man, he studied under Eli, an established prophet and teacher among the Israelites. God seldom spoke directly to people in this period. In fact, the third chapter of First Samuel starts out by saying that "the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation." (1 Samuel 3:1b) So when God called out to Samuel in the night, he mistook the voice as being that of his teacher Eli summoning him. So he got up and ran to Eli, eagerly saying "Here I am, for you called me." (1 Samuel 3:5b) Of course it was not Eli that called, and he told Samuel so. After repeating this little performance three times, Eli finally realized that it was God calling Samuel, so he instructed the boy in what to say if he should hear the voice again. Sure enough, God called Samuel yet again, and more insistently. This time Samuel knew it was the Lord thanks to Eli and answered "Speak, for Your servant hears." (1 Samuel 3:10c)

We again find ourselves in a period in history where God seldom speaks directly to His people. Since God came down to earth to walk among us as Jesus Christ then ascended once again into heaven, we have little written record of authority of anyone hearing God's voice after the Apostles. Saul clearly heard God when struck blind on the road to Damascus. And John was "in the Spirit" on the Lord's Day while in exile on the island of Patmos when he heard a loud voice that related to him the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But generally we tend to question the sanity of anyone who claims that God had spoken to them, especially if they accompany that claim with some act they were instructed to carry out.

Yet how many of us have not felt as if God indeed talked to us? This sensation comes not necessarily in a voice one can hear with their ears, with sound waves compressing the air and carrying their message to and through our eardrums. Do we not have a fairly common saying in our culture about "our calling", often as regards "fulfilling our calling" or "practicing our calling" or the like? Do we not talk to God each time we pray?

But talking is not quite the same as communicating. Good communication requires that we talk and then listen for a response. When we pray, do we really expect an answer? We should, but we must listen for God's reply. We should remain still and silent so we can sense God's voice, His call. When God speaks to us, He waits for our response, for our answer.

God may not shout our names out loud in the middle of the night (although He certainly might). He may simply whisper to us in the rustle of leaves, the soft murmur of a baby, the constant beat of waves upon the shore. Whenever the time, whatever the purpose, whichever the means, our God and Master will call out to us. Will we ignore His pleadings for our attention, or will we humbly respond as Eli instructed Samuel?

Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.

Amen.