THE priest of the Lord, Eli, was quietly sitting "upon a seat by a post of the temple of the Lord:” and lo, a woman named Hannah, came near. She was the wife of Elkanah, a godly Israelite, who had come up to Shiloh with his household “to worship and to sacrifice unto the Lord of hosts." “And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore." She was indeed full of sorrow, for she had no child, and so she prayed very earnestly unto the Lord, and she vowed a vow—If the Lord would but grant her her heart's desire, and give to her a son, then she would “give him unto the Lord all the days of his life."
The Lord heard and answered her petition. He gave her a son; and she called his name Samuel, which means, asked of God. Surely Hannah loved the little boy that the Lord had given her, but when Samuel was weaned, she took him up with her to Shiloh; and there she left her darling son, because, as she told Eli, “I have lent him to the Lord."
Many a little reader has godly parents, and often in their prayers your parents have “lent “you to the Lord. Say, little reader! Have you given your heart to Him who has said, “My son, give me thine heart?" When the young child Samuel was brought by his fond and good mother before the Lord, what did the little boy do? We read, "And he worshipped the Lord there."
Yes, young as Samuel then was, “he worshipped the Lord there." This is the very first thing that we read that Samuel did. Little readers, you have done many things—have you yet worshipped the Lord? Will you not, even now, go to your little bedside, or to some place where you can be alone with God, and there bow before the Lord, and tell Him that you desire to do His will for Jesus Christ's sake? He will hear you, and if you truly seek Him He will be found of you—He will gave your soul. Every one of my dear readers may thus worship the Lord. And here let me say that the Holy Child Jesus worshipped God even before He was as old as Samuel then was. He only, of all the children of men, could say, "Thou art my God from the moment of my birth."
Hannah, who had once been so full of sorrow, was now so full of joy, that she sang a very lovely song of thanks and praise to the Lord. As for the little boy Samuel, he seems to have been quite at home "before the Lord," although his dear father and mother were living far away at their own home. And the Lord gave Hannah, besides Samuel, both sons and daughters. Once every year did Hannah make and bring up for her son a little coat, and then Samuel could see his father and mother, and also his dear little brothers and sisters. But when the feast was over, they all went home, leaving little Samuel still at Shiloh, yet we never once read of his asking to be allowed to go back home with them.
“And the child did minister unto the Lord, before Eli the priest." Do my little readers desire to “serve “the Lord? Samuel served the Lord far away from his own home, but it may be the Lord's will that you should serve Him at home. Wherever we are, may we be found serving the Lord.
“And the child Samuel grew before the Lord." Do you, my readers, “grow in grace, and in the knowledge and love of God," as fast as you can grow in stature?
But I have sad news to tell. Eli the priest had two grown up sons, Hophni and Phineas; they were by birth “priests of the Lord," but, instead of serving the Lord as priests, they served Satan. They behaved very wickedly. They led the people into sin, and did not teach them the right way. Their father, Eli, was a good man himself, and he heard of all the wicked actions of his two sons: and he rebuked them, but “he restrained them not." Had Eli honored the Lord in this matter, and thrust from the priesthood his wicked sons (see Neh. 13:28, 2928And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat the Horonite: therefore I chased him from me. 29Remember them, O my God, because they have defiled the priesthood, and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites. (Nehemiah 13:28‑29)) this would have pleased the Lord. (See Deut. 33:99Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant. (Deuteronomy 33:9)). But Eli allowed his two wicked sons to remain priests, and they went on in their evil way, adding sin to sin, until the Lord became very angry, not only with them, but with their father Eli also. How nice it is that we know that the child Samuel did not follow their bad example. We read, “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men." While these sinful men displeased the Lord, the child Samuel pleased Him. “My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."
One night Samuel, he was still a child, was laid down to sleep: when he heard a voice, calling, Samuel. He thought it was Eli calling him, and so " he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down." Again he heard the same voice, and again he ran to Eli, but Eli said as before, “I called not, my son; lie down again." Then a third time the voice called, and a third time Samuel ran to Eli, but Eli now perceived whose voice it really was that Samuel kept hearing So he told Samuel to go and lie down as before, and if the voice called him again, he was to say, " Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place."
I once knew a little boy who did not like to lay awake in the dark night; for then, when all around was quiet, he heard, as it were, a voice entreating him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," and “be saved." It was the Spirit of God calling him—in love the Spirit of God was speaking to that little boy's heart through his conscience. “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart." Sad, sad to say, this little boy did not then want to hear “His voice;" and he hardened his heart against the pleadings of that loving voice. But at the very same time he listened to another voice, which told him to wait a little longer before he gave his heart to the Lord; although he knew that this last was the voice of Satan. Thus this little boy was willing at once to hear what Satan had to say, but he did not want to hear the voice of the Lord., Are any of my dear readers doing the same as this little boy did? But the boy grew older, and the Lord by His Spirit still called, and at last, he listened.
And the Lord spake peace to his soul. Had he but listened before he would have saved himself much sorrow.
Little Samuel was much wiser than the little boy of whom I have told you. He was willing at once to listen. He knew that it was the Lord who called him. “The Lord came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel." It was not a dream, the Lord was really there present, even as now we read; the Lord is "at hand." When Samuel heard once again “His voice," he reverently answered,” Speak; for thy servant heareth." Are my little readers as willing to listen to the voice of the Lord, as the child Samuel was? He did not say, " Speak, Lord," as Eli had told him to reply; it may be that his little heart was at that moment so full of childish awe, that he dared not utter the word "Lord." But the Lord knew he was willing to listen, and the Lord spake to Samuel that very night.
It was sad news that Samuel had then to hear. The Lord told him that He was about to punish Eli and his two sons, for the sins which Eli knew about, but did not prevent.
“And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." The Lord did what He told. Samuel He would do, Hophni and Phineas were slain, Eli died; and worse than all,—the ark of God was taken by the Philistines.
Could Israel any longer inquire of the Lord? Yes. Such was the goodness of the God of Israel, that before the ark of God was taken from them, “all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.