Our brothers and sisters, let me just locate here. Would you raise your hand if you’re from the New York Chain Group? There they are. Okay—and we have a train whistle as well. Well, there we are: a complete set.
Everybody else was here, of course, New Yorkers. And, you know, when I shared introductory matters last night, I said that I was going to speak on three honorable vessels: Samuel, David, and Daniel. So tonight, I am going to speak on Samuel. Please turn to 1 Samuel 3.
We are going to read the entire chapter, this story with which all of you are familiar.
We said last night that, as a child, Samuel had a heart to serve the Lord. So now let us look at this story.
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.
And word from the Lord was rare in those days; vision was not widespread.
It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place—now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well—and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, that the Lord called Samuel. And he said, “Samuel!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
But he said, “I did not call. Lie down again.” So he went and lay down.
The Lord called yet again, “Samuel!”
So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
But he answered, “I did not call, my son. Lie down again.”
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.
So the Lord called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Then Eli discerned that the Lord was calling the boy.
And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
Then the Lord came and stood, and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
The Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
That day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.
Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”
Whew.
Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”
He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.”
So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.
And he said, “It is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.”
Thus Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
And all Israel, from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.
And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Our Lord, as we come to You tonight, we thank You for the precious Word of God that You have given us, and for the biographies of men who were vessels of honor.
Tonight, as we study a little about the life of Samuel, we pray that we all can understand that You are the God of Samuel, and You are our God as well. Lord, we pray that the things You did in Samuel’s life, You will be able to do in our lives as well.
We come as an offering unto You, even as Samuel did in his youthful days. We pray, Lord, that You will use us, call us, and speak in us and through us, that we might have a heart to serve even as Samuel did.
Now, by the Holy Spirit, strengthen us, give us understanding, and help us to walk in Your ways step by step. We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, this is a Sunday school story that everybody knows. But now it is time to put it in its context. When you put this Sunday school story in its context, as we read it, I hope you see the irony of the story.
This is the end of the days of the judges. When you look at the history of the people of Israel during the days of the judges, it was a tragic history of unfaithfulness and idolatry. This simple story of a young boy is cast in the context of the tragic history of God’s people.
Look at those first four verses and see the context in which this calling came:
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli; and word from the Lord was rare in those days, and vision was not widespread.
It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place. Now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well.
And the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was, that the Lord called Samuel. And he said, “Here I am.”
Now, brothers and sisters, last night we talked about this: in the house of God there are many, many vessels. But the history of the house of God is such a tragic history, as we see here in Israel.
You probably know from the story of the judges that the basic condition of the children of Israel was this: they were in the promised land, but they were not enjoying the promises. It was because they had no king, and everybody did what was right in his own eyes.
There was weakness. There were enemies on every side. For every step they took forward, they took two steps back. They fell into idolatry, and then God would raise up a judge and they would be delivered; then they would fall into idolatry again. It was a continual up-and-down story.
Here we see some interesting little pictures before us. The word from the Lord was rare in those days. Now, this should never be the case among God’s people. This is part of the tragedy. Imagine being God’s people and not hearing God’s Word.
The visions were infrequent—or, literally, according to my version, no vision was spread abroad. We know from the book of Proverbs that where there is no vision, the people perish. So it is no wonder that Israel was in a terrible state.
Not only that, God had raised up the priesthood for the children of Israel to speak a word from the Lord. You could go to the priest and ask a question, and he would go before the Lord, seek the Lord’s counsel, use the Urim and Thummim, and find the Lord’s word for your life.
The priests were God’s instrument for His people at the time of the judges. Here is a descriptive picture—a picture of fact. Eli’s vision had grown dim. Of course, he was the high priest. Physically, he was old, and that is why his eyesight was failing. But you must not miss the fact that the writer is giving us a picture of something more.
Eli was the man who should have had the word of the Lord, yet he himself was blind.
Then it says that the lamp had not yet gone out. This tells us that it was late at night. The lamp had been trimmed, and as the night went on, the oil was beginning to run out. The oil had not gone out when Samuel was called, so it tells us it was late at night.
But spiritually speaking, it is another little picture. The lampstand was going out, but had not yet gone out. This is a picture of tragedy.
Then the word comes to Samuel. He says, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening,” and the Lord begins to speak to him. Look at the response in verse 20:
All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.
And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.
Thus the word of Samuel came to all Israel.
Now, I do not know if you can sense the irony of all that, but it is almost saying that the whole purpose of God was hanging by a thread—one boy.
The whole hope of Israel: one boy. The word of God for everybody: one little boy. This little boy was cast into the whole hope and context of Israel. In the midst of tragedy, suddenly one boy came on the scene. There was one candlelight in the midst of the darkness. The whole thing hinged on this one little boy.
It is an amazing story. You see the tragedy, and then you see this other side. What do we see in this story? The tragic history of God’s people provokes God to respond with sovereign mercy.
When you look at the history of the children of Israel, it is hard to say, “Is this a tragedy, or is this a gospel story of sovereign mercy?” It seems that throughout Israel’s history, whenever the history came to a place of tremendous decline, the Lord acted sovereignly and raised up a vessel of honor.
Now, this is a wonderful thing to know. Let us look again at 2 Timothy 2. We read these verses last night in the introduction, but just notice one verse there.
When Paul is talking about the many vessels—some honorable and some dishonorable—in the house of God, there were men saying that the resurrection had already come. There were false teachers and all kinds of things. But it says in verse 19:
Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness.”
When something is being built, you see the kingdom of God growing. You see the people of Israel possessing the land. You see the church growing. But what about when there seems to be tragic decay, tremendous decline in spiritual life?
Israel had no spiritual life. They had no word of God. They had no vision. They were completely secular. Can you imagine God’s people being completely secular? All they wanted was their land, their fruit, and their fun. They cared nothing about God’s purpose.
But in the midst of all that darkness, here is what it says: God’s foundation stands firm. He still knows those who are His.
There may be many vessels and many people doing this or that among the people of God, but the Lord knows His vessels. Samuel is a perfect example. In the midst of the whole tragedy of Israel’s history, He knew this little boy right over there—and He called him.
“The Lord knows those who are His.” I find that very comforting. As I serve the Lord and have had opportunity to see God’s people over a period of time, I must say it is time for us to realize the facts of life: the church is in a tragic condition.
But when I see clearly the tragic condition of the church—how secular it has become, how little the Word of God is heard, how little vision there really is—I take encouragement. I know that God knows those who are His, and He is choosing vessels here and there.
I thank God that I can come to a place like this tonight and be among some people among whom I think God is choosing vessels.
Today, of course, God is not merely choosing an individual like Samuel. He is choosing a corporate vessel. But among this whole big house, He is looking for overcomers—people who really have a heart to serve the Lord, people who can be vessels of honor in the midst of the tragedy.
We are sitting in a room with young people—even young children—who have a heart to serve the Lord. I say that is fertile ground. May God find and choose, sovereignly call, and make you vessels of honor in the day in which we live.
When I say that the sovereignty of God can be seen in the midst of tragedy, all you have to do is look at the story of Samuel. How does God bring the kingdom to Israel? How does God bring David the king to sit on his throne? How does God bring, out of this tragic history, a coming together of God’s people?
By answering the prayer of a desperate, childless woman.
If we were planning how to make the church better, or how to make the children of Israel come back to God, we would never choose a woman who did not have any children. But there was a desperate woman named Hannah.
She wanted a child so badly. Elkanah was married to another woman named Peninnah, and every time Peninnah sneezed, another baby came out. Here Hannah wanted a baby so badly, she was eating mandrakes, doing whatever, standing on her head—and she could not have a baby.
She was desperate. She was crying. Every year they went to the festival, and she cried and cried and cried. Peninnah would say, “Ah-ha-ha, I have kids; you have none.” Oh, man, she was being tortured. She came to the end of herself.
Finally, one day she said, “God, I will make a deal with You.” God was waiting for somebody to make a deal. Let’s make a deal.
She said, “God, if You give me a child, I will give You a child.” That is the deal God was waiting for.
Do you know what? He is waiting to choose a vessel, but He wants somebody to pray. How long do you think God had been looking for a vessel—wanting a vessel—but He had to get somebody to give Him a vessel?
So He found a desperate woman. She said, “If You give me a child, I will give You the child back.” The deal was signed, and she sneezed, and out came Samuel.
Now, I do not want to talk about the birds and the bees, so “sneezed” is much easier, you see. She had a nine-month sneeze, and boom—here comes Samuel, heard of the Lord, asked of God. Samuel, the little boy, was named.
Look at the end of 1 Samuel 1, verse 28. After she had weaned this little baby—she kept him at home for a little while and fed him and gave him her love—she brought the child to Eli and said:
“So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.”
The word is actually “lent to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Do you know what she did? She sacrificed her son. She gave her son to Eli and into the house of God. It was a gift, but it was an answer to prayer. The Lord heard her prayer and, by the way, gave her five more children—but that is another story.
Every year she would go down to the temple. As Samuel grew a little, she made him a new ephod—probably had Mickey Mouse and Minnie on it or something. He did the most menial tasks. He was the doorkeeper. He opened and closed the doors in the morning and at night.
He probably fetched oil for Eli, fetched Eli his special slippers—his priestly slippers—and did various things. He was doing these little things. But this little boy lived in the house of God. He grew up in the house of God. He grew up a worshiper.
When Eli worshiped and lifted his big hands—for he was heavy; Eli was big—Samuel lifted his little hands. Eli would pray, “O God, Thou who art faithful to Thy covenant,” and Samuel would say, “Amen, amen.”
Then he would sweep up after the meeting. He would make sure the wicks were in the lamp. He would do these things and everything. After a while, Eli started calling him, “My son.”
Now, we know Eli had two sons. They were wicked men. But now he had a son—just this little boy there in the house of God. What a sovereign thing.
Who would ever think what would happen to this boy? This boy had a heart to serve, and so he was serving. He was in the house of God. But do you know something? He had not heard God’s voice.
We find in 1 Samuel 3:7:
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him.
But he was serving in the house of the Lord and being faithful in all these things. Then came the day—or, of course, the night—when God called Samuel. He had to call him four times, because Samuel thought it was Eli.
After a while Eli said, “No, no, no, no. Now you say, ‘Speak, Lord.’” The Lord spoke, and a light went on in the house of God. The people of God found hope. This little boy began to hear words from the Lord, and all Israel came to Samuel, the boy, to hear from God.
Do not ever think that you are too young. We do not know how old Samuel was when he actually heard the Lord. I would think he was probably a teenager. He had been there year by year.
We do not know. The Scripture does not actually say. But he had to be old enough to understand what was being said and to have responsibility there year by year. Yet even in this beginning preparation stage, when he was simply serving with a willing heart and doing whatever he was told, he learned two lessons that are important for us to learn.
The first thing is that Samuel, the young man, is a picture of a principle in the kingdom found in Matthew 18.
Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
You remember that the Lord Jesus took a little child and put him in the midst when the disciples were saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom?” Jesus said, “Unless you repent and become like a child, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This is also a principle of service in the kingdom. Who can serve the Lord in the kingdom of heaven? Those who become childlike—those who have a simple trust, simple faith, who are willing to hear God’s voice, who are not complicated, and who do not go about doing all kinds of things from their own motives.
They become like a child: innocent, simple, trusting.
Now, many people want to serve the Lord. How many people hear His voice?
Many people go around doing all kinds of things, as it were, rightly dividing the sacrifices in the tabernacle. But how many are serving the Lord and listening for His voice? Here was a beautiful situation, and it is a picture for us.
I ask you this question: are you serving the Lord in His house? His house, of course, is His church. Are you serving the Lord there? That is good ground for hearing His voice.
Are you serving as a child? Are you simply devoted to the Lord? Do you offer simple worship to the Lord? Even when we are first saved, although we may not have some great ministry—actually, we do—at the moment we are saved, we are priests.
We have little duties to do: worship, prayer, and little things we can do to be part of the house of God.
Who can serve in the kingdom of God? The person has to become a child. If we are so complicated, if our minds are already so complicated that every time the Lord speaks we say, “No, no, no, that cannot be the Lord; that must just be my mind,” then we are already getting ourselves into trouble.
I have noticed that many people who hear the Lord’s voice have a simplicity about their lives. God speaks, and they believe it. They do not have all this self-doubt and all this kind of stuff going on in them.
So the first thing we learn is that this story of Samuel is a picture of serving in the kingdom. Unless you turn and become as a child, you cannot enter—and you cannot serve in—the kingdom of God. It is for those who have this childlike way. Hearing the Lord takes a certain childlikeness, does it not? Listening to His voice.
The second thing we can learn from this beginning stage is this: when we are in the house of God, as we are when we are saved, we can serve the Lord in our praises and prayers. But without vision, we cannot have a ministry.
Samuel was there, ministering and serving, doing this and that in obedience. But he had not had a vision of the Lord. Is it not interesting that the Lord spoke to him, and yet it says in 1 Samuel 3:15:
So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
So it was more than just a voice speaking. There was a vision involved. If you look back in 1 Samuel 3:10, you see that when the Lord came to him and spoke to him the last time, the Lord came and stood and called him.
Somehow, Samuel not only said, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening,” but he saw the Lord as the Lord spoke. Without a vision, we cannot serve the Lord. We can serve the house, and it is good to be part of God’s family. But when Samuel came into this vision, he came into a calling.
When one receives a vision of the Lord speaking, one begins to have a burden. You and I were children in the house of God. Thank God, we are saved. We can sing songs and do everything. But have you ever had something happen in a transaction with the Lord that gave you a burden beyond your own concerns?
A burden for something bigger? Some burden that the Lord has? Do you have such a burden?
Can you imagine Samuel? Let me say, for the sake of illustration, that he was thirteen. Can you imagine him saying, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening,” and God saying, “Okay, I want you to tell Eli that I am going to judge him and his sons”?
Samuel immediately had a burden. This was no longer playing games. Everybody was happy in God’s house, singing songs, “Jazz, jazz,” and now Eli was going to be crying. Uh-oh. Now we are doing some serious business.
Thank God for all the fun times we can have in the house of God. Thank God that we can do many little things and help with the children in Sunday school and all this. But when the Lord gives you vision and begins to speak to your heart, some kind of burden goes down in there.
When that happens, a cross comes into your life. What was Samuel’s cross at that point? “Who do I fear more: man or God?”
“If I tell the truth, I might get kicked out. Eli might kick me out, and then I will have to call Mommy—and I do not have a calling card.”
But do I fear God, or do I fear man? What do I do?
You notice that in the morning, after the vision, Samuel opened the doors but did not say anything. Then Eli came and said, “Samuel, I know God said something. What did He say?”
Samuel told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. When he got through, Eli said, “It is the Lord. Let it be done according to His will.”
Like Jesus, Samuel picked up his cross and began to serve the Lord. It was sometimes a lonely life—standing for God’s righteousness in difficult situations, sometimes having to be very stern, and sometimes even being rejected.
This ministry involved the life of the cross. Do you want to hear the Lord’s voice?
The Lord is looking for vessels to whom He can give His burden—vessels willing to stand for truth, righteousness, and love. But there is a cross involved.
Samuel, whatever his age was, began a life of sacrifice, a life laid down for the Word of God and for Israel.
Those are the lessons we learn from the preparation stage. Now, consider this amazing moment. Samuel, whatever that moment was in his life, began a raising up by God that was absolutely phenomenal.
This little boy was suddenly thrust into the context of the whole country because he had one gift: he could hear God.
I am not going to belabor this point, brothers and sisters, because I think you all realize it. In the house of God there is a lot of talk and a lot of words, but how many people hear the Lord?
We hear about Him. We do Bible studies about Him. We pray and throw things up to Him all the time: “Dear God, what do You say about this?” But how many people hear God say something?
We throw a lot of stuff up, have you noticed? There must be a lot of helium there, and not too much comes down.
Many people talk, but who hears the voice? Here is Samuel, and he hears the voice of God. Because he hears the voice of God, something happens: a person who hears the voice of God becomes heard of God.
Samuel starts to speak, and God stands with him. Look at 1 Samuel 3:19:
Thus Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.
Now, let us get a couple things straight. Samuel was still a teenager, so he still had some hang-ups. Second, Samuel was a prophet who knew in part and prophesied in part. He was not perfect in his knowledge, but he was trying to hear the words of God and to be faithful.
When God spoke, Samuel spoke the words. He did not speak a perfect word, especially when he was young and growing. But whenever he spoke from God’s heart, God never let any of his words fall.
What does that mean? Samuel said something, and it happened. It was God standing with him, so everybody said, “My, my. When Samuel speaks, it happens.”
Very soon after the prophecy in chapter 3, you know what happened. Eli’s two sons were killed in battle. When Eli heard the report, he fell over, broke his neck, and died. All in one day, according to the word of God.
The people took notice that when Samuel spoke, the words did not fall vainly to the ground, but they accomplished what they were meant to do. The word was kept.
Just think of this young man. Brothers and sisters, I wonder what would happen where you fellowship if you began to hear the Word of God. Have you really heard the Lord?
What a comfort that would be to the people of God. What hope it would be to know that there are young people who hear the Lord. This is a precious thing. This is a vessel of honor.
Look how the Lord raised Samuel up. First of all, He took this priesthood that had fallen into disrepute and brought the Word of the Lord back through it. People could come to the house of God, ask for counsel and help, and Samuel would find the word and give it to them.
The priesthood had fallen into disrepair through Eli and his sons, but now suddenly it was respected. If you went to the house of God and wanted to know the truth, you would get the truth—because this young man Samuel was being faithful.
So the priesthood, in that sense, was restored. Second, Samuel was raised up as a judge. As he continued to grow, he became the judge over the whole country. He delivered the country from its enemies. The Philistines were their particular enemies, and who was it who delivered them? Samuel.
Not only that, God raised him up as a prophet. He was one of the first of the classical prophets. The classical prophets were not even called prophets at first. What were they called? Seers.
In 1 Samuel 9:9, a little explanation is given:
Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he used to say, “Come, and let us go to the seer”; for he who is called a prophet now was formerly called a seer.
Samuel was a seer. In the old days, the prophets had visions. They saw things, and then they spoke the word of the Lord. The prophet had vision. He was a seer, so he could see.
Samuel saw that the donkeys Saul was looking for had been found. He could see what the Lord wanted. He could see who the kings were going to be. He could anoint the kings because he could see who they were supposed to be. This is some kind of vision.
What a vessel of honor was being raised up here.
As a priest, he anointed kings. As a judge, he delivered Israel. As a prophet, he turned the hearts of the people back to the Lord.
By his prophecy, he turned the hearts of the people back to the Lord. These people who were worshiping idols, these people who were going nowhere, turned their hearts back to the Lord through his prophetic ministry.
Samuel was a lot. He could have been a real big shot. He was a priest, a judge, and a prophet. There was none like him since Moses and Joshua.
It had been four hundred years since they had such a man as Joshua. During the period of the judges, there were some judges raised up, like Deborah, who had a prophetic ministry, and Gideon was a good judge. There were some good judges. But the nation was basically secular.
Now they had one who could speak the Word of God, who saw vision, and the people began to be gathered together under this vision.
Here is my question to you: what was the secret of Samuel? What made him such a vessel of honor? What caused him to be raised up as a Levite, a judge, and a prophet? What was the secret of his life?
This is what I want to call it. Actually, the message title tonight is this: The Intimacy of Consecration.
Samuel had a heart that wanted to serve the Lord. When he heard the Lord’s voice, as a consecrated vessel he continued to maintain a position that enabled him to hear the voice of the Lord.
When the Lord first spoke to him there in the house of God, it was the beginning of a lifelong relationship of intimacy with God that enabled him to be a vessel of honor.
In the Bible, Samuel is praised as a great man of faith in Hebrews 11. But specifically, do you know what is said about his greatness? The Bible does not speak of his greatness as a judge or as a prophet. Do you know what it speaks about?
Prayer.
Look in Psalm 99:6:
Moses and Aaron were among His priests,
And Samuel was among those who called upon His name;
They called upon the Lord and He answered them.
Right along with Moses and Aaron is Samuel, among those who called on the name of the Lord.
Even more remarkable, look at Jeremiah 15:1:
Then the Lord said to me, “Even though Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My heart would not be with this people. Send them away from My presence and let them go.”
The Lord was judging Israel and was about to bring Judah into captivity. But notice what He says. He mentions those who had the most influence, the greatest intercessory power. He says, “Even if Moses showed up and interceded for these people, I would say, ‘No, send them away.’ Even if Samuel interceded for these people, I would say, ‘No, send them away.’”
Samuel was known for his intercession. He was known for his prayer.
Here we see the key and secret of the outward life of a man who was a prophet and a priest—a strong outward man. What was his secret? He was a prayer. He maintained intimacy with God.
He never left the house of God, as it were. With his childlike ear and desire to hear the Lord, he stayed with the Lord. He listened to the Lord; then he spoke to the Lord. Because he was a hearer, he could also be heard by God. God listened to his prayers.
He became an intercessor for the people. This is what a priest is really supposed to be.
How did he counsel people? Picture him at sixteen years old, with people coming every day to the house of God saying, “Oh, we have a problem here. Would you please pray and receive God’s word for us?” How did he do this?
Because he kept a consecrated relationship of intimacy with the Lord. How did he know how to judge and deliver Israel from the enemy? Because he heard the voice of God and obeyed the voice of God. He never lost that childlike hearing. He listened for the Lord.
Let us look at three examples in Samuel’s life of this prayer power that he had. He was a consecrated servant and a man of prayer. Notice 1 Samuel 7.
We skip over the story of the ark being taken from Israel by the Philistines. Eventually, the ark did so much damage that the Philistines said, “Please, send the ark back. We cannot take any more punishment.” The ark was quite able to handle itself.
Notice 1 Samuel 7:2. The ark had returned to Israel and was staying at Kiriath-jearim.
From the day that the ark remained in Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
What does that mean? The house of God was in Shiloh, but the ark was not there. The people realized their foolishness. They had treated the ark superstitiously as a means of trying to win a battle.
They had taken the ark into battle as their lucky charm. They did not ask the Lord; they decided to do it themselves. They lost the ark in the process. Even when it was returned, it was not put back in the house of God.
Samuel waited. He had spoken to the people, but even though he spoke the word of the Lord, the people ignored him and did what they wanted. But now, at the right time, when the people’s hearts had been chastened by what they had done, they listened to Samuel’s words.
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you, and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”
So the sons of Israel removed the Baals and the Ashtaroth and served the Lord alone.
Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel to Mizpah and I will pray to the Lord for you.”
Samuel was a righteous man who could pray effectual, fervent prayers. He said, “Put away your idols and gather with me at Mizpah.” Mizpah means “watchtower.” “Gather with me at the watchtower, and I will pray for your deliverance.”
They came together, offered sacrifices, and fasted. Then, in verse 7, when the Philistines heard that the sons of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel.
When the sons of Israel heard it, they were afraid. They said to Samuel:
“Do not cease to cry to the Lord our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Is that not interesting? They were probably praying themselves, but they knew that when this man prayed, God listened. It was because he had listened to God. So they said, “Please pray to God for us.”
Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it for a whole burnt offering to the Lord; and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him.
Now Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, and the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day against the Philistines and confused them, so that they were routed before Israel.
The men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and struck them down as far as below Beth-car.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
Notice verse 13:
So the Philistines were subdued and they did not come anymore within the border of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Here was a man who could pray, and God would move. When he prayed, God delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines. All during the days of Samuel, they were free from the Philistine power and attack.
What an amazing story. He prayed. He was a man of prayer. God answered the prayer. How did he turn the hearts of the children of Israel? He prayed, and God answered the prayer. The intimacy of consecration is what we see in Samuel’s life.
Now we see in 1 Samuel 8 that Samuel is old. In verse 4, the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said:
“Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”
But the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So what did Samuel do?
Samuel prayed to the Lord.
The Lord said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being King over them.”
When Samuel grew old, he tried to set up his two sons as judges, but his sons were unrighteous. The people came and said, “We want a king like the other nations. We want a man who can marshal all the troops from the different tribes. We have twelve tribes, and we need somebody to coordinate all this.”
Samuel was hurt. He was grieved. He said, “This is evil, what they are asking.” Part of the reason was that he felt rejected.
The Lord said, “Samuel, they are not rejecting you.” Samuel thought they were rejecting him, but even in the midst of this rejection, he prayed.
When he prayed, the Lord said, “Okay, let us give them a king. They have rejected Me. They have rejected you. Let us give them a king.”
Samuel warned them that a king would require their service, take their sons into his army, make them work in his fields, and take tithes from them. But they said, “Oh, yes, yes, yes. Still, we want a king.”
Finally, they got King Saul. They got what they asked for: a king who was a load of trouble.
By the time we get to 1 Samuel 12, the children of Israel realize that they have made a mistake. The Lord sent great thunder and rain as a sign of His disapproval of their rejection of Him.
Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.”
Now the people realized they were wrong. What did they say? “Samuel, please, please pray for us.”
Samuel said to the people:
“Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which cannot profit because they are futile.
For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself.”
Then, in 1 Samuel 12:23, he says:
“Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way.
Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.”
I do not know if you can appreciate this, but here is the largeness of Samuel. They rejected Samuel, and Samuel stood with them.
They rejected Samuel. They asked for a king. They got King Saul. After showing them and telling them—and after the Lord confirmed that asking for a king was not the right thing—Samuel said, “Far be it from me that I should ever stop praying for you and for the king you have asked for.”
Samuel became an intercessor. He stood with King Saul. He worked with King Saul. He worked with the people and told them to seek the Lord with all their hearts. He said, “I will pray for you day and night.”
There is a judge. There is a vessel of honor. There is a worthy man.
Beginning in chapter 13, we see how Saul becomes disqualified to be God’s king. He waited for Samuel to come and offer sacrifice. The enemy came closer and closer, and finally Saul tried to be the priest and offered sacrifice himself.
Samuel said, “No, no, no, no. That is not right. Why did you do that? That is disobedience.”
Then, in chapter 15, Saul had to fight the Amalekites. God told him to strike the Amalekites and completely destroy them. But he did not destroy all the Amalekites. He kept the king and the best sheep.
Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”
Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.
Samuel confronted Saul and declared:
Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
Saul disobeyed again. This time Samuel said, “Saul, the kingdom is being taken away from you.” Samuel had to stand for righteousness. He had to stand in judgment, and he stood in judgment of King Saul.
But notice what happened at the very end of chapter 15:
Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
Samuel had stood with Saul. Samuel had prayed for Saul. Even though Saul had rejected the Lord, disobeyed, and been rejected, Samuel’s heart was tender. He loved Saul, and so he grieved.
But in 1 Samuel 16:1, the Lord says to Samuel:
“How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons.”
This tender, childlike heart of Samuel had to bear the cross again. “I have rejected Saul,” God says. “Why do you keep on grieving? Fill your horn with oil and go.”
At the darkest moment of the history, Samuel went up to Jesse’s house to do the most important thing he ever did in his life. This was the reason he was born: to anoint David, the king of the kingdom of God.
In verse 6 of chapter 16, Samuel entered and looked at Eliab, the oldest son of Jesse, and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”
This guy was six foot two, had a mustache, had two college degrees, and played rugby. “Oh, this is the guy. This is the guy.”
But the Lord said to him in verse 7:
Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
They called in the next one, and the next one, and the next one. All the sons were used up. Samuel said, “Is there not another son?” They said, “Well, there is the guy out in the field.”
“Okay, get the guy in the field.”
So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.”
Samuel rose up, as the priest of God, and anointed David as the next king of Israel. That was the reason he was born.
Samuel was a vessel of honor. He did what the Lord said. He obeyed the Lord. This is the key. He continued in prayer, continued to intercede, and continued to ask the Lord what the Lord’s will was.
There are two lessons I want to draw from these latter days of Samuel, and then that is it for tonight. I want the Lord to apply this to all our hearts.
The first lesson we can draw, as we look at Samuel’s ministry as judge, prophet, and priest, is this:
Outward ministry is only as effective as inward intimacy.
What do I mean by that? I am not sure Samuel, in his prophecy, turned the hearts of the children of Israel back to God because he gave such an effective ministry sermon. It was because he had prayed and prayed, and then spoke.
Whenever he did anything in his office, there were many moments of intimate fellowship with the Lord before he spoke a word. He got it right. Where he ministered, he ministered only after he had talked to the Lord about it.
This was a lifelong habit of Samuel. He was an intercessor. He was a prayer. True hearing from the Lord leads to intercession because it gives us a burden.
When we hear from the Lord and see the real condition of a situation, it causes us to pray and come before the Lord. In matters of the kingdom, many are called, but few hear.
Many are called, but who waits and listens for the voice of God?
That is the first lesson: outward ministry is only as effective as inward intimacy.
The second lesson is simply something to notice. As Samuel grew to manhood, he was a Nazarite. He never shaved and never cut his hair. When he became an adult, he was a pretty awesome-looking character, I am sure.
I do not know how big Samuel was, but obviously, as we read the story, we almost have to assume that he was a pretty strong man.
One Bible writer says about him that he was “God-devoted, stern, unbending, and true to his calling.” Outwardly, he was faithful to God and stood for God’s righteousness.
But this was a cross for him. Look for a moment on the inside of his heart. Here was a man weeping for the people, interceding for the people, and possessing a really soft heart.
Sometimes you see a servant of God in his outward posture as stern, strict, or tough. But do you know something? Samuel’s heart was a heart of interceding love.
Even for Saul, even for Israel, even for the unfaithful, he was a man of prayer. He did not just lash out at people and say all kinds of things. He did not have some kind of self-righteousness that judged everybody.
But he spoke the truth. Brothers and sisters, if you are going to be a servant of God and faithful to God, you have to speak the truth sometimes. That will sometimes cost you a friend—somebody’s friendship—because they look at you and say, “That person is too righteous for me.”
But you have to speak the truth.
Only the Lord knew what Samuel’s heart was really like. On the outside, he looked pretty stern. Maybe some of you have judged your parents as being a bit too stern or a bit too strict. I wonder if you know their real heart—how much they really care for you and are praying for you.
I ask the Lord: “Please, by Your mercy, Lord, raise up a vessel of honor.”
You can imagine Samuel’s whole life growing up. He led a deprived life. He lived in the house of God. He did not play on the house of God; he served the Lord there.
He was a vessel of honor because he was obedient to God—steadfast on the outside, but inwardly crying, interceding, seeking the Lord, and holding on to the Lord.
His true childlike heart bore the cross of his calling, which was to stand prophetically in righteousness.
Samuel was a vessel of honor for two reasons. I conclude.
First, he was a vessel of honor because he laid down his life to prepare the way for the king. He anointed the king. In one sense, his work was done.
He had made the transition from an unfaithful Israel to an Israel seeking the Lord’s heart. He made the transition from the judgeship to the kingship, and David became king of Israel according to God’s heart.
What a wonderful transition. There was only one man who could have done that—only one man—and it was Samuel. He was the vessel of honor God used to do that.
The second reason he was a vessel of honor is this: who wrote the story?
You do not see that? But you see, as a man with a burden, Samuel tells us this story: the history of God’s people may be tragic, but God, in His sovereign mercy, is always choosing and preparing a vessel.
You can look at history in two ways. You can get discouraged when you see things go wrong. You can get discouraged when you see things that started out so well just seem to go down the drain.
But if you really see that tragic history, then you should notice that our sovereign God is still raising up brothers and sisters who will be faithful and who will serve.
My question is: are you one such person?
There are a lot of people who want ease in Zion. They want to live in the house of God and just have a good time. They do not want to let it distract them too much, because after all, they have a very important career, you know, as a salesman in Walmart.
Then there are those who have their life, but something in them says, “Lord, I want to serve You. Lord, I want to serve You.”
If you will be faithful in the little ways in the house of God, maybe the Lord will speak to you, give you a burden in your heart, and give you a vision that will not let you go.
Do you know what that vision is? The Lord is doing a work in these last days.
There are many, many vessels in the house of God and many things going on. There is a lot of stuff on television, and I wonder what kind of vessel that is. I do not know. What is that vessel on television—that person yelling, jumping up and down, talking about Jesus? What kind of vessel is that? I do not know.
But the Lord is looking for honorable vessels of gold and silver, with His character, who are learning these lessons.
Remember: no matter how many vessels there are, all protesting or bragging or saying this or that, the Lord knows those who are His. Let those who call on the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness.
That is the sure foundation for the future of what God is planning to do. That is great.
Lord, we long to live in Your house and to sit at Your feet. We sing songs, even like the worship song we sang tonight, that we are standing face to face. Lord, I wonder how many really are there.
I thank You, Lord, for the hearts of Your people. I believe that many of the young people here have a real heart to serve You.
Oh, Lord, in the midst of their faithfulness, in the midst of their life in the house of God, will You call them? Speak their name and begin to put upon their hearts something of Your burden in this tragic history we see going on around us.
This alone will give us hope rather than discouragement. Oh, Lord, it is not for us to try to change the things that are happening on such a grand scale, but to be faithful to Your Word and to serve You. Oh, Lord, let that be our lives.
I pray for my dear brothers and sisters, because I know there would be no other reason for them to be here, that I can think of, except that they want to hear Your voice.
I pray that, even as You called, “Samuel, Samuel,” You will speak their name. May they hear Your voice and begin a life of consecration that has that kind of intimacy, where they walk with You, talk with You, wrestle with You, find out Your Word, and live in such a way that, having heard Your voice, they are heard when they speak.
Oh, Lord, Your eyes look to and fro across the earth for such a vessel. May You find some here, even here, whose hearts are saying, “Speak, Lord. Thy servant hears.”
We pray that You will apprehend a vessel—a corporate vessel—in these end days, that will shine with gold, be true to You, listen according to Your Word, and have vision to help all those in the house of God.
Oh, Lord, raise up Your own. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.