1 Samuel 3:1-21 The Call of God
1. The Priority Of God's Call - 3:1-10
(a) It Was a Precious Call - 1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision.
(b) It Was a Personal Call - 4 That the LORD called Samuel:
(c) It Was a Persistent Call - 6 And the LORD called yet again,
(1) The Response To The Lord - 5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me.
(2) The Recognition Of The Lord - 8 And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child
(3) The Reply To The Lord - 9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth.
(4) The Readiness For The Lord - 10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.
(d) It Was a Practical Call - 11 And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
God had a message for Samuel to deliver
2. The Presence In God's Call - 3:11-14
(a) The Person of The Lord - 11 And the LORD said to Samuel,
(b) The Pronouncement of The Lord - 11 Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle.
(c) The Performance of The Lord - 12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end.
(d) The Promise of The Lord - 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
3. The Proclamation Through God's Call - 3:15-18
(a) The Fear at God's Word - 15 And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.
(b) The Faithfulness of God's Word - 17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
(c) The Fullness in God's Word - 18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
A. Eli’s Request - 17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.
He Requested :- The Truth, The Whole Truth, & Nothing But The Truth.
B. Eli’s Rebuke - 18 And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him.
12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. 13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.
C. Eli’s Resignation - 18 And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.
Psalm 27:4 One [thing] have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple
Some two hundred years ago Madam Guyon, after ten years spent in a dungeon lying far below the surface of the ground, lit only by a candle at meal-times, wrote these words:
"A little bird I am, Shut from the fields of air;
Yet in my cage I sit and sing, To Him who placed me there;
Well pleased a prisoner to be, Because, my God, it pleases Thee.
Nought have I else to do, I sing the whole day long;
And He whom most I love to please, Doth listen to my song;
He caught and bound my wandering wing, But still He bends to hear me sing.
My cage confines me round; Abroad I cannot fly;
But though my wing is closely bound, My heart's at liberty,
My prison walls cannot control, The flight, the freedom of the soul.
Ah! it is good to soar, These bolts and bar above,
To Him whose purpose I adore, Whose Providence I love;
And in Thy mighty will to find, The joy, the freedom of the mind."
(4) The Price Of God's Call - 3:19-21
(a) The Adherence To God's Word - 19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.
(b) The Acceptance of God's Witness - 20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
(c) The Assignment of God's Will - 21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh: for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.
