Speak Lord

chapter three, 1 Samuel chapter three. 1 Samuel three, we're gonna look at the first 18 verses this morning. So we'll read through it once and then go back to verse one. 1 Samuel chapter three. Beginning in verse one, 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.

And it came to pass at that time when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see, and there the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli and said, Here am I, for thou callest me.

And he said, I called not. Lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, hear my, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son. Lie down again. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time.

And he arose and went to Eli and said, hear my, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child. 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. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. And the Lord came and stood and called, as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle.

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. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth because his sons made themselves vile and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn under the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever.

And Samuel lay until the morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, here am I. And he said, what is the thing that the Lord has said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every wit and hid nothing from him. And he said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good."

So in chapter 1, Hannah, who was Samuel's mother, was barren. It said that the Lord had shut up her womb. And she goes to the Lord and prays for a son. And she says in her prayer that, I will return him to the Lord. If you bless me with a son, I will return him to the Lord. And so the Lord does this, and he delivers the message to Hannah that he's going to bless her with a son through Eli.

Eli is the one that reveals this to Hannah. And so Eli is born, or Samuel's born, and it's estimated he's about 12 years old. And her and Elkanai, Samuel's father, take him and give him to Samuel to minister. And they leave him at 12 years old. And she sees him once a year after that. So Samuel dwells with Eli. It's a very unique relationship, Samuel and Eli, a very special relationship. Now in chapter three, verse one, it says, 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.

This gospel and our Lord is so very precious to us. It is so very precious. That word means valuable. That doesn't mean it's worth a lot of money. What that means is that it means something to you. It's been made to matter to you. You care about it. It's not just another thing in your life. It's not something that you can take or leave. It's valuable to you. It's been put on your heart.

And that's what this gospel is. This gospel is made valuable. It's made to matter to the Lord's people. The preaching of the gospel is made to matter. the worship of God, this place that we've been given to worship, it's made to matter to you. It's made to be something that you genuinely love and care about.

This word, how precious is this word when the Lord reveals it to you? There's nothing more precious. There is nothing more precious. How precious when the Lord opens our eyes to see his glory and to see him exalted and lifted up. How precious these things are. Now this story is very precious. It is very precious. I hope we'll be able to see that it is precious.

It says in verse 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. There was no prophet at this time, no prophetic voice. And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, And his eyes began to wax dim that he could not see. And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep, that the Lord called Samuel." Now, the Lord is going to use Samuel in very powerful ways. He's going to give him the grace to minister the gospel to his people in a very moving way. The Lord was with Samuel greatly, and we're going to see that in verse 19.

Now 2 Timothy 1 verse 9 says, who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling. The call of God is always a holy calling. It is done from above and it is done so by means that are such a mystery to us that the Lord would speak through a man and preach to us and reveal this gospel to us. And as all men that the Lord saves, this calling was done in the Lord's appointed time and in his appointed That's always how it's done.

And we're gonna get to see here what the call of God looks like and what the response looks like. I like looking at the call of God from the third party. If you were to ask me, what was it like when the Lord saved you and called you? I think I'd have a hard time putting that into words, but I think it's beautiful to see it from a third person and be able to see what the call of God is. Now in the call of God, It's important to notice who calls who.

It says the Lord called Samuel. John 15 verse 16, you have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit. The Lord always calls us. The world loves to think they called God. When they say I accepted Jesus, that's just saying I called God. You know, the call in our experiences is the first step. It's the first step in belief.

Aaron talked about that this morning, looking to Christ when the Lord saves us the first time. It's always in that order, and the call is always answered. We'll see in this story. as much as Samuel ran to Eli, the call was eventually answered, because the Lord is sovereign in the call. He's sovereign in the call, and he's sovereign in our response to the call.

Verse four, 1 Samuel 3, verse four, that the Lord called Samuel, and he answered, here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, here am I, for thou callest me. And he said, I called not. Lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the Lord called yet again Samuel. And Samuel rose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not my son. Lie down again. Now the Lord's calling Samuel, and Samuel's hearing the words, but he's going to Eli.

And the reason is because of verse seven. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him. So the experience of the Lord's people before they save him. We hear the audible word, but we look to the wrong place.

Why did he go to Eli? He went to Eli because it's what he knew. He did not yet know the Lord. Eli is a father figure to Samuel. He's been ministering unto Eli. He's very comfortable with Eli, but he does not know the Lord. He does not know where to look. She gave him to him as a boy. He's not 12 years old. I mean, a 12 year old, they don't know where to look. They look to what's been put in front of them. And Eli was put in front of them. He keeps going to Eli.

Verse eight, and the Lord called Samuel again the third time. What a blessing that he doesn't stop calling. when we wonder. Prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. And yet the call keeps happening. We're not like that. If I'm talking to somebody and they're ignoring me, they're going to a different person, I'm not just gonna call you all day. That's not how the Lord is, though. He is so sovereign in this whole thing of the call, and when we are confused and we're in darkness, he continues the call until we answer. He rose and went to Eli and said, Here am I, for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord called the child. Samuel did not know the Lord, but Eli did. Eli knows who the Lord is.

And you're going to see that in verse 9. Now we're going to spend some time in verse 9. And I wanna say up front about verse nine, we're not to praise Eli for what's said in verse nine for the instruction that he gives to Samuel. The Lord spoke through Eli to Samuel here and saved one of his people. So we're not saying this to give man praise, but rather to give God the glory for what is said here, for the instruction that's given here to teach us of how he saves his people.

Verse 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. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. He starts by telling him, Go and lie down. Get in a low position.

The call is always done when we are made to be put in a very low position, and the Lord will bring his people to that place. You can see it in the publican, he would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, God be merciful to me, the sinner. Now we have to be made to be brought to that point, where we will not even look up to God, go and lie down. The Lord's call always comes when he puts us in a place of being low and looking downward, taking our rightful place as sinners, by his grace, taking our rightful place at his feet.

Therefore Samuel said unto Eli, go lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, speak, speak to me. Don't start speaking to the Lord. Lord, speak to me. Let's turn to Ecclesiastes chapter five for a second. Ecclesiastes five. Ecclesiastes chapter five. Let's read verse two together. Ecclesiastes chapter five, verse two.

Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God, for God is in heaven and thou upon earth. Therefore, let thy words be few. You can't take that any other way than what it says. If you don't understand that, you're gonna have to choose to misunderstand what that says. Speak, Lord."

Now, I do not want to downplay the importance of our prayer to the Lord. Our prayers to the Lord and what we say to the Lord will be the most meaningful speaking that we do on this earth. But what that means is the gospel revealed and Christ revealed is not in what we say to him, it is what he says to us in his word, in the preaching of the gospel spiritually, the holy call, that is what is the gospel. It is not in our words to him, it is not in our language, it is what the Lord has to say to us.

What does he have to say to his people? That's what Eli's telling him here. Ask the Lord to speak to you. What, I'm, not, not, wait until he says X, just tell him to speak to you. He'll say what's right. He'll say what's needed. He'll say what will save you. Turn back to our text, 1 Samuel 3. Back in verse nine.

Therefore, Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down, and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord. It's said that Samuel did not yet know the Lord. So why would he tell him to say, Speak, Lord? Because Eli knew that whether Samuel knew it or not, the Lord is Samuel's Lord.

God being God is not dependent on if we know he is God or not. He is God. Whether you're one of the Lord's sheep, whether you're lost, He is your Lord. Men say, I have no God. They have a God just as much as we have a God who is just as much in sovereign control over them as they are us. The Lord's just been merciful to us. That's the only difference. But He is sovereign over every man. He's telling Samuel here, When you address the Lord, you address him as Lord. Whether you know he is or not, he is your Lord.

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. Again, he didn't yet know the Lord. How could he be a servant of God? Because Eli knows that if Samuel comes this way, and if the Lord is pleased to yet again speak, that he will save Samuel.

For thy servant heareth. What is a servant of God? It's somebody that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ and looks to him for all things. It's somebody that the Lord has been merciful to and gracious to. There is no higher honor than to be a servant of the Lord. There is no higher honor than to be a recipient of the Lord's mercy, is there not? There is no There's just nothing in this world that even could compare to the joy that that can bring. And we're thankful for so much in this life, but are we thankful for anything more than the Lord's grace to us? That he would actually make us a servant of him, that he would give us the pleasure of being a servant of God. And what Eli's saying here is take your place there. Take your place as a servant. Now let's turn to Mark 10 for an example. Mark 10. This is gonna show us what being a servant is. Mark 10. Mark 10, verse 45. Mark 10, 45.

For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Now what ministered means here is to serve. Now what he's saying here is, I didn't come to be served. The son of God did not come into this world and made a man to be served. He came to be a servant, a servant to his father, the one that sent him, and to do his sovereign will.

That's what it is to be a servant. to look to the Lord. He never stopped looking to the Lord. Even when the Father forsook him, he never stopped looking to the Lord. It says in scripture, he took upon himself the form of a servant. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ did on this earth.

Took upon himself the form of a servant. Now, why can Eli tell Samuel, call yourself a servant? Because in Christ we are a servant. because the Son was a servant to the Father and did His will. And in Him, we are relying on that great servant to be our representation before God the Father, before a holy and just and righteous God. How thankful that the Lord was a servant, that He didn't come to this world to proclaim His own name and to make a show, but that He came as the form of a servant to go to the cross and die for his people. What a servant our Lord is. Now what you see in verse 9 is you see what our pastor has said many times as a definition of the preaching of the gospel. One beggar telling another beggar where they found bread. Now Eli had found bread here. And he tells Samuel, this is where you go, and this is what you say, and this is how you come to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't come to me. Stop coming to me. I can't do anything for you. No man can do anything for us as it relates to our sins and our eternal salvation. There's nothing that can be done for us by a man. And Eli understood that. He says, stop coming to me and look to Christ alone.

Now let's look at verse 10, 1 Samuel 3 verse 10. And the Lord came and stood and called, as at other times Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth. And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone that heareth it shall tingle.

They're going to be moved by this, by what I'm going to do. 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. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knoweth, because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering forever."

Now he says he's going to punish Eli for what Eli's sons did, and that Eli allowed it to happen, that he restrained them not. So let's look back in chapter 2, and these are the sins of Eli's sons. Eli's sons are named Hophni and Phineas. Hophni and Phineas. 1 Samuel 2, verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were of Balaal, and they knew not the Lord.

And the priest's customs with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servants came while the flesh was in seething with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand, and he struck it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up, the priest took for himself. So they did, and Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servants came and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as the soul desirous that he would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will take it by force.

Wherefore, the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Now what they did is they stole from the offering. They took from the offering and they took the best cut of meat and they took it by force. That's what Hophni and Phinehas did. Now what that represents is stealing glory from God in salvation and stealing honor from God and bringing your own righteousness before God to steal from God. That's what they did. That was the sin that was so punishable. that the Lord said, there's not gonna be any offering that's gonna cover that sin. To steal glory and honor from God.

Now let's turn back to our text, 1 Samuel 3, and look at verse 15. And Samuel lay until the morning and opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel feared to show Eli the vision. This isn't a message you wanna give anybody. He feared to show him the vision.

Then Eli called Samuel and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, here am I. And he said, what is the thing that the Lord has said unto thee? I pray thee, hide it not from me. God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide anything from me of all the things that he said unto thee. And Samuel told him every wit and hid nothing from him. And the preaching of the gospel is always to be done hiding nothing. Our pastor has said that before. False preaching is not in what's said, it's in what's not said. It's in what's left out. Why are things left out? They're left out to inflate the pride of man.

That's the best way to... get people in chairs, so to speak, inflate the pride of man, feed into the pride of man. And what's taught here is we are to preach every wit. We are to hold nothing back. If the Lord is giving us something to say, if the word says something clearly, we are to say it plainly and simply, regardless of how men feel about it.

He hid nothing from him. He told him everything. Verse 18. And he, Eli, said, It is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. Now in response to that, the Lord gives Eli the grace to say, It is the Lord. It is always the Lord. Everything is in our Lord's sovereign control. That means when things are good, it is the Lord, and when things are bad, when things are difficult, it is the Lord. It means when we understand what's going on and we see things clearly, it is the Lord. When we understand our life and the things that are happening in it, and when we're in complete confusion on why the Lord is doing what He's doing or what the purpose is for it, it is still the Lord. When we hear the gospel, it is the Lord.

Look in verse 19, 1 Samuel chapter 3 verse 19, And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and did not let none of his words fall to the ground. The Lord sustained his words. The Lord sent his words and blessed his words. And I'm very thankful for that as the one talking right now, that it's not up to me to bless this, that the Lord will send this out and whatever he does with it, it is the Lord.

When we hear the gospel, it's the Lord. When we're left in darkness, it's the Lord. When things are left a mystery, when the gospel's preached and it falls on our deaf and cold ears, it is the Lord. Henry said, there's just as much grace in what the Lord keeps from us as what he reveals to us in the gospel.

And that's the truth. If the Lord is leaving something in the gospel, a mystery to us, that is still the Lord. And he is still right, and he's wise in doing that for whatever his purpose is. That doesn't mean we don't seek the answer, that we don't read the scriptures, that we don't go to the Lord in prayer and ask for these things. But understand, if something's left a mystery to you, it is the Lord, regardless of if you are given light on it or not.

It is the Lord. He's the first cause behind all things. Turn to Colossians 1 for a second, Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter one, look at verse 16, Colossians 1, 16. For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by him and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

It is the Lord. He said, it is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good. Not what's good. Don't let him do what's good. What I think is good. What is objectively good. What we all know is good. We don't know what's good is the truth of it. We don't know what's good and right and fair in anything. Whatever the Lord does is good and right and fair because it is the Lord.

And Eli understands that. He says, let him do what seemeth him good. David said in Psalm 51, verse 4, against thee, the only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight, that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest. That's what Eli's saying. However you judge, you're good. If you pass me by, if you punish me for this sin, you're good. If you show me mercy, you're good. David understood that, and Eli understands that.

I tell you this about, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good. It takes the sovereign grace of God to bring someone to that place. The sovereign grace of God, we cannot muster to get to that place. But what a peaceful place when the Lord brings us there that we can actually say, it is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good, whatever he brings our way. What a comforting place. How gracious our Lord was to Eli. How gracious. Now let's turn to chapter 4, 1 Samuel 4, verse 15. 1 Samuel 4, verse 15.

This is after the Philistines have defeated Israel in battle. They've stolen the ark from Israel. And this is the punishment of Eli. Verse 15, now Eli was 90 and 8 years old, and his eyes were dim that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled today out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there hath also been a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass when he made mention, of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck break, and he died.

For he was an old man and heavy, and he had judged Israel forty years." The Lord did punish Eli. He said he was going to punish Eli in his house, and he did. You could look at that story, you could look at the ending of Eli, and you could say, it's a pretty brutal way to go out. You lose both your boys, the ark's taken from Israel, And upon hearing this, you fall off a chair and break your neck.

But I'd remind you what Eli said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good. That's what the Lord's people can say. And Eli was certainly one of the Lord's people. And I would remind you where we started in verse one. the word of the Lord was precious in those days. Psalm 116 verse 15 says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And this death was precious. He was looking to the Lord through the very end, like Aaron said this morning, you see the full lifespan of the believer in this, the start of the believer, Samuel, the end of the believer, Eli, looking to Christ the entire way. And it was precious to the Lord, these two men, Samuel and Eli. You know, I said it means something. When something's precious, it's valuable, it means something.

And in this story, and in this gospel, and in the word of God, When you read of the Lord and his dealings with his people, one thing is very clear in it that we are actually precious to the Lord. That he actually loves us and cares about us. Why else would he do these things for us? Why else would he sovereignly show us mercy and grace and be so loving to us when we never deserved it and when we never looked to him? Only because we are precious in the sight of the Lord. All right.

Speak Lord

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