Good morning. If we can turn again this morning to Galatians 5. It is kind of the verse we have been considering together: Galatians 5:7.
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? Let us pray.
Lord, we do find ourselves rejoicing as we have been in Your presence. Lord, the vastness of Your table and all that it speaks of truly does overwhelm our hearts. And we do return, Lord, with grateful hearts unto Him who has loved us.
And Lord, we are thankful that You are that One who is with us. Lord, You are a very present help. We all look to You, Lord, during this time. Help us in speaking; help us in hearing. Help us to really feed upon this bread of life, Lord.
Lord, we have broken one loaf as a testimony unto You. We break the bread of life, Your Word, now. Lord, may You use it to work within us, conforming us unto Your image and preparing us for Your return.
We are blessed, Lord, that by faith we can enter into all that You have for us at this time. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Last week, we were looking at this verse: “You were running well. Who hindered you?” We looked at it because, as we were coming out of the conference, we found ourselves running well. We were very blessed; we were very strengthened.
But we know from history that, at times, we can go along for a while and all of a sudden the graph starts going downward, and we are not running quite as well. So we wanted to look at the Scripture to see if we could get some help on how we could continue to be running well every day of our lives.
We have chosen to look at Samson and Samuel. As you look at these two men, they both had a wonderful beginning. But there came a point in their lives where one started going down and one continued on.
That is actually why I chose that hymn. I like the hymn, but if you look at it from Samson’s perspective, he was very content where he was. He was not desiring to press on. He was not desiring for anything more. He was just content with all of the pleasures and joys of life.
But as we look at Samuel today, Samuel was always pressing on. In the spirit of Paul, he was pressing on that he might know the Lord. Throughout Samuel’s life, it testifies that he was growing, and he continued to grow.
As we look at Samuel today, may we be captured by that same spirit: to keep pressing on, to know our Lord more and more.
We said that both of these men had very similar beginnings. We shared how both of their mothers were barren, and God, in His marvelous grace, intervened in the lives of Manoah’s wife and Hannah. Both of them had a good home environment; both of their mothers loved the Lord.
We see how both of them had a call of God upon their lives. There was purpose within both of their lives. Both of them were called to be Nazarites, set apart unto the Lord to be serving Him.
Both of them had that good beginning, full of promise. Everything was so blessed. They had need of nothing. They had been so equipped.
Brothers and sisters, as we stop and reflect upon our lives and all that the Lord Jesus has done for us, that is where we are. We have a marvelous beginning. We have received everything that we could ever think of.
We start off this life in the Lord with need of nothing, because this table testifies: He is our all in all. He is our Alpha, our Omega. He is the beginning and the end. Our all-sufficiency is in Him, and we are so thankful for that.
But we also know that quite often we end up being like Samson, and we do not enter into the fullness of the riches of His life.
Samson was not able to enter in. He ended up violating his Nazarite vow three times because he chose to live for himself—the pleasures of self, the pleasures of this world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh. He was living for himself.
Because of that, Samson never became the man of God that God desired him to be.
Praise God, at the end of Samson’s life, we can see that he came to his senses, repented, and God used him. As we look at Samson’s life, we are so thankful for the mercy of God seen in Samson at the end of his life. But is that what we rejoice about?
Is our goal just to end up like Samson and live our lives wherever we want to, thinking that in the end everything will work out? It reminded me of what Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. There were some who were saved, but they were saved by fire—barely saved. All the wood, hay, and straw, everything got burned up, but they were saved.
In one sense, we can say Samson was saved, but he missed out on a lot of reward. He missed out on a lot of blessing. There was so much more.
I imagine that when Samson was in that prison, there was some weeping and gnashing of teeth over what could have been. What could have been. We do not want to be living a life of what could have been. We do not want to be those who end up weeping and gnashing of teeth.
We want to be those who are enjoying the goodness and presence of the Lord now, because He has made it available to us in His beloved Son.
I received an email this week from a brother who had listened to the message on the tape ministry, and he had a thought that I thought was good. I wanted to share it with you—some thoughts on Samson.
As you look back upon Samson’s life and apply it to today, God had been faithful to Samson even when Samson was not. Samson went into the vineyard, and God still gave him strength. Samson touched the dead, and God still gave him strength.
So maybe Samson came to the place where, when he was with Delilah, he thought, “I can do anything against my vows, and God will overlook it and still give me strength.”
Could this be a picture of much of the church today? Much of the church today saying, “I can still do anything I want and still expect the blessing of God.” Just a thought.
We can find within our own lives that we think we can just do anything we want and still look for God’s blessing. In the end, Samson finally got God’s blessing, but there was a great price.
Brethren, we can enjoy the wonderful blessing and goodness of the Lord every day of our lives. He can be that very present One.
As we come to Samuel today, we want to look at one who was able to continue running in an unhindered way. He was not hindered by himself. As we see Samuel today, he was really pressing on and continuing to allow the Lord to meet him in spite of some pretty difficult circumstances.
Turn back to 1 Samuel 1. The book of 1 Samuel opens in chapter 1, and we are somewhat familiar with the story of Hannah, Samuel’s mother. She was barren at that point in time.
She loved the Lord very much, and she was pleading to the Lord and crying out to the Lord for a child. Every year she would be beseeching the Lord. Praise God, in His wonderful grace and mercy, the Lord answered her.
We see how Samuel was born by the grace of God. We are very thankful for that. Out of the petition of a mother’s heart came forth Samuel.
During her petition, Hannah had committed him to the Lord. She had committed him as a Nazarite to the Lord. Praise God, Samuel took up this vow.
After Samuel was born and after he was weaned, Hannah and her husband took Samuel to the tabernacle because they were dedicating him to the Lord, and he was going to serve there. It really speaks of her love for the Lord.
Look at the end of chapter 1, verse 28. This is Hannah speaking:
So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.
And Samuel worshiped the Lord there.
It is very precious. As a young man—we do not know his age; commentators go ballistic over all the varieties of ages they pick—but he was a young person at this time. We see that as his mother had dedicated him to the Lord, one of the things he had learned from his mother was to worship the Lord.
At that young age, there was something of worship. What is worship? Worship is simply declaring the worthship of our wonderful Lord. It is putting Him in His rightful place and us staying in our rightful place. It is declaring that He is the worthy One.
Samuel had learned this. Samson never learned this. But Samuel, at a young age and throughout his life, learned that the Lord was worthy. He was the worthy One. Samuel was going to live unto Him.
You can look in 1 Samuel 2:11. Again, it speaks of how the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. Then, in 1 Samuel 2:18, it says:
Now Samuel was ministering before the Lord, as a boy wearing a linen ephod.
See, I make some mistakes just to see if you are awake.
But at this young age, he made a choice. What captured his heart and life was that he was not living for himself. It was as if he was living to minister to the Lord every day of his life. He was going to declare the worthship. He was going to declare how worthy the Lord was.
How precious this is, because we can see what a solid foundation he had. He was not looking for other things. He was living to proclaim the excellency of the One who had first loved him.
It is interesting, even as we start to look at Samuel’s life, that he actually had a few more challenges as a young person than Samson did. The environment Samuel grew up in was really a challenging environment.
He was living there with Eli and the priests, where the tabernacle was. You would think that would be a wonderful environment to be in, but look at who he was surrounded by.
We see how, at a young age, Samuel made a choice not to give in to youthful lusts, the circumstances, and the temptations of life. If you look in 1 Samuel 2:12-17, it describes Eli’s sons. We are not going to read all those verses, but it is summarized in verses 12 and 17.
In 1 Samuel 2:12, it says:
Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord.
What a testimony. They were worthless men, and they did not know the Lord. Verse 17 describes the sins they were committing with the offerings and their abuse of the people:
Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord.
Later, in verse 22, it says how these sons were even sleeping with the women who came to make their offerings. They would abuse the women. So these were really pretty worthless men, and these were the men young Samuel was growing up with.
It is a marvelous testimony that, in spite of the circumstances, the peer pressure, and the evil surrounding him, Samuel did not conform to it. He did not use it as an excuse to say, “Oh, if I had better circumstances in life, I could really serve the Lord that much more.”
“If these two sons of Eli were not so horrible, I could live a better life.” Because, you know, evil hates it when somebody good is around.
You get a couple of guys that are really out of it, and you find somebody who is trying to follow the Lord. They are going to try everything they can to ensnare that person. They are going over to little Sammy and saying, “Sammy, come on over here. We have these women for you. Come on over here. We will give you some good meat. Come on over here. We have some good drink for you.”
There is this desire within any young person—within any of us—we desire acceptance. We do not want to be left out. There is this peer-pressure thing, and there is this pull.
So we do not need to look at it through rose-colored glasses. Samuel was tempted pretty tough. It was right in his face. But he made a choice.
He saw there was a relationship in his heart with the Lord, and he said no to the lust of the eyes, no to the pride of life. He said no, and he continued ministering to the Lord.
He was faithful. He was so faithful to the Lord, and he did not make an excuse. So often we can find ourselves saying, “Oh, you know, if my home life was a little better, I could really be following the Lord that much more.”
“If my work environment was a little bit better, I could follow the Lord a little bit more. If the school I was in had more Christians, I could really be a better Christian.”
We could go on and on, coming up with excuses for why we are not pressing on to that higher ground, why we are not pressing on to know Him more and more.
But praise God, Samuel, at this young age, made no excuse. In spite of all the circumstances, in spite of all the evil—and we see today how evil is abounding more and more—Samuel was faithful to the Lord.
As we read earlier in verse 18, Samuel continued ministering before the Lord. He continued to keep the Lord as his one desire and his one perspective.
What a precious testimony, brothers and sisters, as we go through this life keeping our eyes upon the Lord and allowing Him to be the One who strengthens us and keeps us.
As Samuel continued in faithfulness, 1 Samuel 2:21 says that the boy Samuel grew before the Lord. He continued to grow before the Lord.
Not only before the Lord, but verse 26 says:
Now the boy Samuel was growing in stature and in favor both with the Lord and with men.
As he grew with the Lord, we could say that was his private life—his private life of devotion and the relationship he had with the Lord. But he also grew with men. That was a testimony, a public testimony.
As people came to make their offerings, they could tell the difference between Samuel and the sons of Eli. They could say, “There is something different about this one.” He was growing in favor.
As he served, he was not robbing them. He was helping them come to the Lord. The priests at that time were to help the brethren come into the presence of the Lord, to be a help and an assistance, not a hindrance.
Eli’s sons were a hindrance. Samuel, in that wonderful spirit he had, was a real help in bringing people into the presence of the Lord, bringing their offerings and sacrifices before the Lord so that they could know they were fully accepted—not robbing God of anything due to Him.
How precious it is. This speaks of how Samuel, as he was growing, was not only called and gifted, but there was character developing within him. He not only had the call of God and the gifting of God upon his life, but there was character—the character of Christ being formed within him at that age.
If we asked Samuel, “What is your testimony?” he would say, “Not I, but Christ.” He was faithful to that. That was his testimony. That was whom he was seeking to testify to and serve.
As we come to 1 Samuel 3, it starts in verse 1:
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days; visions were infrequent.
Look at the environment in which Samuel continued to minister and serve the Lord. It says:
And 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 gone out yet.
What is being spoken of here, beyond the physical, is a weakened spiritual condition in the nation of Israel. The word of the Lord was rare. Visions were infrequent. There was a weakened spiritual condition.
Eli’s eyes had grown dim—not just from old age, but spiritually. His eyes had grown dim. The spiritual leader was in a weakened condition.
It says the lamp of God had not yet gone out. The testimony, that light which was to shine bright, was glimmering. It had not gone out yet, but the testimony was in a weakened condition also.
Oh, how the Lord desires that lamp to shine bright, that testimony to be bright, that spiritual leaders would be strong, with their eyes open and full of wisdom, revelation, and discernment. He desires that the Word of God would be frequent, that people would be able to see all that God desires.
This was the spiritual time in which little Samuel had to grow up. The marvelous thing about Samuel was that, in spite of poor spiritual conditions, poor spiritual leaders, and a weakened testimony, Samuel was faithful to the Lord.
He continued to grow, and he was able to serve the Lord in a full way in all these times. He did not use the weakened spiritual condition as an excuse.
“Oh, if the spiritual life was better, I could serve the Lord more. Oh, if so-and-so and all of this were in better condition, if Eli the spiritual leader had been stronger, I could be stronger. If the testimony had been brighter, I would be able to be stronger.”
No. In spite of all the current spiritual conditions in which he found himself, Samuel was faithful to the Lord and continued growing.
Brothers and sisters, in a similar way, the days in which we are living have a weakened spiritual condition. We do not need to allow ourselves to use that as an excuse. We keep pressing on because we keep our eyes upon Him.
The Lord Jesus has not weakened in any way. God is the same—the One who is, and who was, and who is to come—the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Now, His expression amongst His people may be in a weakened place, but He has not weakened. Praise God for that. We want to be those who are really allowing the Lord to meet us.
Samuel was so precious because there was no excuse. He was not captured by any spirit of self-pity.
“Oh, do You not feel sorry for me? All these conditions and circumstances that I have to live in. If you had to live with these two guys, if you had to live in this spiritual realm, would You not feel sorry for me?”
There was no self-pity here. So often, when we look around at our circumstances, self-pity just cries out. Samuel was not looking for self-pity. He was looking for the Lord, and he was pressing on, strong in Him and in the power of His life.
As Samuel pressed on, we have the marvelous story before us of how the Lord met him in a very personal way. Before this, Samuel had not really had this personal encounter with the Lord. But he came to that point in time in his life where he came face to face with the Lord and yielded to Him.
Look at 1 Samuel 3, beginning in verse 3:
The lamp of God had not gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was.
The New American Standard says “temple.” Now, we know the temple had not been built then, so I am not sure why they use the word temple, but you can ask someone else about that.
The Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am.” Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call you. 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 Eli answered, “I did not call you, 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. 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.
Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be, if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Thy 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 Thy servant is listening.”
In the midst of all the circumstances and everything surrounding Samuel, I love this picture of where Samuel chose to rest. Look at the end of verse 3. It says Samuel was resting by the ark. He was lying down by the ark.
To me, this speaks of his wonderful secret—how he could endure all the things in life. He was making his home in Christ. The ark speaks of Christ. That is the testimony of Jesus; it speaks of Him.
Samuel was lying by the ark. We know he could not get right inside there, but he was getting as close as he could in that proximity.
We are thankful now that the veil has been rent, and we can come in and abide there. What a wonderful picture of one abiding in Christ.
In the midst of all the circumstances, Samuel found his home. There was a place of abiding and a place of rest—staying near the ark through every battle, through every circumstance, through whatever was going on.
Samuel wanted to be near the Lord. He experienced abiding in Christ, knowing that wonderful place of security and safety.
It was in that place that the Lord was able to speak to him. The Lord spoke to him three times. Samuel heard, but he did not know it was the Lord. Yet it is precious how God gives us time to understand.
God is so patient with us. He does not speak to us one time and, if we do not get it, never say something again. God was patient with Samuel.
He spoke to him again; Samuel did not get it. He tried it again; Samuel did not get it. Finally, Eli discerned. God spoke again, and Samuel was learning to hear the voice of the Lord.
He learned to hear that voice, and he obeyed that voice. The wonderful thing about Samuel was that, as he learned that voice and obeyed that voice, he made himself available to the Lord.
He said, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant is listening.” He was confessing that the Lord was Lord. This was his point of consecration.
It was the point in life when he said, “I am going this way.” At this point, it was no longer just the God of his mother. Now this was his Lord and his God.
He had had this personal encounter, and he yielded. He said, “You are the Lord. I am the servant. Speak, and whatever You say I will do. I am giving my life to You.”
That is what we call consecration. That is the fulfillment of that Nazarite vow that we see within Samuel.
The wonderful thing about Samuel was that he not only had an ear to hear and a willing heart, but he was also available to the Lord. By saying, “Speak, Lord, Your servant is listening,” he was saying, “I am making myself available to You.”
Brothers and sisters, do we have time today to make ourselves available to the Lord, or do we have everything else crowding in?
The Lord was Samuel’s priority. It was his priority. There was nothing else that mattered. As the Lord spoke, he said, “Lord, I am available to You. Use me as You want.”
It reminds me of our Lord Jesus’ mother, Mary. When the angel came and spoke to her and told her that she was going to bear the Messiah, she did not really know what was ahead of her. She did not know anything, but she said, “Be it done to me according to Thy word.”
She was the bondservant of the Lord. Samuel, in that same spirit, was a bondservant of the Lord, making himself available.
We can talk so much, and we can hear so much, but do we have availability within our lives to allow the Lord to work out in us and through us all that He desires to do?
So often, with the times and pressures in which we are living, we are constrained by so many things that there is not this availability. Would we be available to the Lord, to really press on into all that He has for us?
After Samuel had this wonderful encounter, we see how he continued on and received the rich blessing of the Lord. We can pick up 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.
Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” He said, “Here I am.” Eli 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 Eli 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 fail. 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.
I was very blessed by looking at Samuel’s life. After he had this marvelous encounter with the Lord, what did he do? He went back and lay down. How he got to sleep that night, I do not know. But after having this encounter, he went back and lay down.
He waited until morning, got up, and served. He just continued on. His responsibility was to open the doors, and he went back and continued on the walk the Lord had for him.
He did not all of a sudden think he was somebody special: “Ah, God has appeared to me. Somebody else can go open the door now. I am a little better than that.”
No, he was still faithful right where the Lord had him, right where the Lord was using him. He was faithful, and he continued on.
To me, it speaks of the wonderful diligence and humility that you see within him. He did not elevate himself, but continued faithfully right where the Lord had him, because the Lord had not told him at that point to do anything else.
He was faithful with what the Lord had shown him to do, and he carried on those responsibilities.
I also love how, in verse 15, you can see Samuel’s humanity. It says Samuel was afraid to tell Eli what had happened.
Basically, the Lord had told Samuel—and a man of God had already visited Eli and told him this—that Eli and his family were going to be taken out and Samuel was going to be raised up. So you can imagine Samuel being a little nervous about this.
It is kind of like going into work one day, hearing that your boss is going to be fired, and your boss says, “Okay, tell me what is going to happen today.” You say, “Well, boss, you are going to be fired, and I am taking your place.”
I appreciate the humanity, because sometimes we can make these people seem like such super-saints that they can do anything. They do not have to wrestle with anything; they do not have any problems in life.
I love how the Holy Spirit put it in here that Samuel was afraid of Eli, which is very normal. Eli was his mentor in one sense. Samuel looked up to him and respected him.
Now Samuel had to be the one to tell him, “Well, Eli, the Lord is going to take you out and put me in.” But praise God, you see within Samuel how his love for the Lord was greater than his fear of man.
So often the fear of man can grip us and paralyze us. But Samuel did not allow it. The love of God constrained him and strengthened him in such a way that the love of God was greater than the fear of man.
If we are all honest within our hearts, we know the strength of the fear of man. Oh, it can be so tormenting at times, depending upon the particular situation you are in.
We can find the torment of the fear of man, and we can allow the fear of man to become greater than the love of the Lord.
But by God’s grace, Samuel allowed his love for the Lord to be greater than the fear of man. Could we really be in that same spirit?
Samuel denied himself. He denied his natural feelings and told Eli all that the Lord had said.
Praise God, it says in verse 19 that Samuel continued to grow, and the Lord was with him—always pressing on, always growing. I love how there is this continual word, growing, within Samuel’s life, pressing on that he might know the Lord.
We see how the Lord used Samuel in a marvelous way. In verse 20, there is again this public testimony: all Israel recognized that Samuel was a prophet.
When it speaks of Dan to Beersheba, that simply means from the northernmost city to the southernmost city—like saying everybody from Maine to Florida. Everybody from Dan to Beersheba recognized that this man was a prophet of God.
There was something different about this one. He was not like the others who had been around. Remember, during this time—the first part of 1 Samuel—it was the same time as the book of Judges. Everybody was doing what was right in their own eyes.
Out of this poor, weakened spiritual condition, the Lord raised up one who was different. People recognized it. They said, “Wow, there is something unique. This man is a prophet of God.”
Verse 19 says that Samuel grew, the Lord was with him, and the Lord let none of his words fail. Why did none of Samuel’s words fail? It was because Samuel only spoke the word of God.
He did not use his own words. He was faithful. What the Lord shared with him to speak, he spoke. So it really was not Samuel’s words that were not failing; it was the word of God that was not failing.
But Samuel faced a new temptation. Flesh and blood had tried to get Samuel in many different ways. Oftentimes, if temptation, persecution, and evil do not get you, the enemy can then try to come in and use success.
Here is young Samuel—still a pretty young fellow—but now he has been elevated. He is a prophet, and everybody in Israel is saying, “Oh, look at Samuel. Oh, look at Samuel.”
Now he is not dealing with the fear of man; he is having to deal with the praises of man. How that can make you feel so good. We love the praises of man. It makes the flesh feel good, and we love it.
There is young Samuel, and everybody in Israel is talking about him. They are lifting him up and elevating him above all the others around him. What a temptation this was—the praises of man, the success of life in the Lord’s economy.
But praise God, it did not capture Samuel. He continued to know his place and did not allow that to come in.
He was able to do that because he knew the Lord and had been going through many spiritual exercises. As Samuel was spiritually exercised, he had learned to deny himself. He learned about that dividing of soul and spirit.
So when the praises came in, by the grace of God, he was able to say no to that and yes to Christ. He stayed in that place of humility and lowliness.
Because of his faithfulness, brothers and sisters, the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, because the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of God.
The Lord revealed Himself. Here was a prepared vessel. Remember the conference: preparing the way of the Lord. This was a prepared vessel.
In that spirit of preparation, through this prepared vessel, the Lord was able to appear again in Israel in the midst of their weakened condition. There was hope within Israel for the first time in many years. Praise God for that.
I love how it says in verse 21 that the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord. Brethren, do we allow the word of the Lord to reveal the Lord Jesus to us?
It was through the word of the Lord that Samuel saw the Lord. As we have conferences, teachings, and our daily time in the Scriptures, are we receiving that revelation of Christ?
Are we seeing the revelation of Christ? Are we seeing all that the Lord has for us, all of His desire? Is that spirit of wisdom and revelation coming forth through the Word of God to us in the days in which we are living?
May it be. The chapter started by saying that the word from the Lord was rare. What a contrast. At the start of the chapter, the word of the Lord was rare. At the end, the word of the Lord is being revealed and used to reveal Christ more and more.
We know the battle there is today over the Word of God. Many are despising it. Many are saying other things about it and trying to put it down. But brethren, there is such a need and such a dependency that we need to come into upon that daily Word of God.
As you continue in Samuel’s life, you would think they would just continue on this upward way—that Samuel is here, and now everything is going to be wonderful.
But like most of us, most of the people in Israel did not listen to the word of the Lord. The Philistines were going to have this big battle, and the Israelites said, “What we can do is be superstitious. We will grab the ark and take that ark out with us into battle.”
As they did, the ark was captured by the Philistines. In chapters 4 through 6, the Lord really judged the Philistines. They had all sorts of problems. They moved the ark here, and people got sick; they moved it there, and people were dying.
Finally, they sent the ark back to Israel. They said, “Look, we do not want this ark anymore.” They put it on those cows and sent it back to Israel. It was received and put in a place at Kiriath-jearim.
As we come to 1 Samuel 7, we see how Samuel, throughout this time, continued to be faithful. Look at chapter 7, verse 2:
It came about that from the day that the ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years; and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
For twenty years, the Philistines had been ruling over them again, tormenting them. Finally, they began to return and started crying out to the Lord.
It is marvelous how, after this twenty-year period, as they cried out to the Lord, Samuel called them to repentance in verses 3 through 6. He said, “Repent. Return to the Lord.” Praise God, the people responded.
Then the Philistines heard it, and they attacked again. But in the middle of this attack, the people did not try to defend themselves. They called upon the Lord. The Lord answered them.
The Lord, with a mighty thunder, shattered, tormented, and terrified the Philistines, and Israel was able to go in and respond to the battle.
The basic point I want to make from Samuel’s life in this chapter is that the people did not listen to him for twenty years. They did not listen to him.
But at the right time, he remained faithful. When that time came, he was a ready and prepared vessel, fit for the Master’s use.
When the people were ready, Samuel was there to show them the way back to the Lord. The people were under the dominion of the Philistines, being tormented. Finally, they came to their senses and cried out to the Lord.
Samuel did not sit there and say, “See, I told you so. I am not going to help you anymore. I told you. I am not going to be available.”
No. He was ready, prepared, and willing at that moment. We could almost say, at the fullness of time, when that time came, he was a ready and prepared vessel to lead the people back to the Lord.
So often, if people do not listen to us, we give up on them. If they do not listen to us, if they are not going to follow the Lord, we just give up on them.
Praise God, Samuel never gave up on the people. It was not because of who they were; it was because of who God was.
Samuel did not have faith in the people. He did not say, “All these people are going to come around.” He had faith in God.
He knew that it was God’s heart and purpose to have a people and a testimony upon this earth. He knew that God had a heart and a purpose for the people of Israel. He knew about those promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
He knew there was something upon God’s heart about this nation of Israel. In spite of the way they were acting, his faith was in God.
At the moment in time when they turned to the Lord, Samuel was that prepared vessel, ready to lead them unto the Lord and bring them back into what the Lord had. Praise God for that.
As Samuel did this, we see how the Lord answered him in such a marvelous way. They won this mighty victory. Look at 1 Samuel 7, beginning in 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.
And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even to Gath; and Israel delivered their territories from the hand of the Philistines. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites.
Now Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. He used to go annually on circuit to Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah, and he judged Israel in all these places. Then his return was to Ramah, for his house was there, and there he judged Israel; and he built there an altar to the Lord.
We are so thankful that when the people listened to Samuel, repented, and responded, God was able to bring peace within the country. It was a peace they had not experienced for many years.
Once this order was established, as they were looking to Him as their Master and Lord, He was able to move and intervene.
In verse 14, it says that even those areas that had been lost were restored to Israel. There was a restoration work done here.
During the time of the judges, the Philistines had stolen and taken away much of the promised land, much of that great inheritance the people had. The Philistines had robbed the people of Israel of that.
Praise God, when the Lord was able to come back in with this mighty victory through this prepared vessel—able to bring the people back into the presence of the Lord—they were able to recover and restore that wonderful inheritance.
Throughout church history, when things have been lost, the Lord has raised up people to restore and recover much of the riches that we have in Christ.
The Lord continues today to desire this wonderful restoration work: bringing back all that has been lost, bringing back everything that we have of our Lord Jesus, and showing forth His excellency so that there would be a bright testimony.
Praise God, there was a vessel that was ready and prepared. This is what the Lord is looking for in the hour in which we are living: that prepared vessel that can bring the people of God back to Him and prepare the way for the King to come in.
After this great victory, when everything was set up and everybody acknowledged that Samuel was such a wonderful man, how did they respond? We are fickle people.
If you look in 1 Samuel 8, the people basically said, “Enough of this time of judges. We want a king like all the other nations.” They wanted a king like all the other nations.
Samuel, again, showed his humanity. He felt rejected. Look at verse 7. After the people said they wanted another king, verse 6 says that the matter was displeasing—indeed, evil—in the sight of Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.”
Samuel prayed to the Lord, and 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.
Samuel was taking this personally. The Lord opened his eyes a little wider and said, “Samuel, they are not really rejecting you. They are rejecting Me as King.”
When the people cried out for a king, it was not that the Lord did not want them to have a king. What were the condemning words they used? “We want a king like all the other nations.”
That was the issue. The Lord desired a king. He wanted them to know that He was their King. But they wanted a king like all the other nations.
They wanted to get along with them: “Let us just all get along. We will be like them; they will be like us; we can have peace.” But compromise and peace never really work. It is not a true peace.
Samuel felt rejected. Sometimes, when we share things and go through this Christian life in fellowship, talking to brothers and sisters who do not receive it, we can feel rejected.
Oh, brethren, the Lord came in and said, “They are not rejecting you. They are rejecting Me.” He put it back in perspective.
Samuel told the people, “Okay, let me tell you what this king is going to be like.” He described a pretty miserable king—not a king you would like. But the people said, “Nope, we still want that king.”
In verse 19, it says:
Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us.”
The point I want to make is that, in spite of their rejection, Samuel’s service to them did not stop here.
Samuel continued to serve God and the people of Israel until the king was brought in. Even though they rejected him right to his face and said, “No, we are not going to listen to you,” he did not pack his bags and go home.
He continued to serve them, faithful to the Lord—that vessel preparing the way of the King.
Later, Samuel brought in King David. Once the people got what they wanted and saw that it was just a man of the flesh, the Lord said, “There is a man after My own heart,” and Samuel went and anointed him.
Samuel was that prepared vessel to bring in the King, that His kingdom could be established upon this earth.
That is what the Lord is looking for in this day and time. In spite of the many battles, troubles, rejections, misunderstandings, circumstances of life, and poor spiritual conditions—whatever it is—there is still abundant grace to allow the Lord to form a prepared vessel.
As we have looked at these two men, Samson and Samuel, remember, brothers and sisters, that they both had wonderful beginnings. They were both blessed. They were equipped. They had need of nothing, just like us.
But then there came a point in their lives. There will come a point after this conference. There will come points in our Christian lives where decisions have to be made.
Are we going to say, “I want this. I want to do this”? Or are we going to say, “Not I, but Christ,” and follow Him?
We saw how one chose to love himself and lost his life. We could say he delayed the coming of the King.
The other denied himself and gained his life. We could say he hastened the coming of the King.
In these last days, in these days of crisis in which we are living, we will be faced with many choices, brothers and sisters. How will we respond? Who will hinder us?
Will we be able to go on in an unhindered way like Samuel because we have that solid and sure foundation and have allowed the Lord to meet us?
How can we do that? Praise God, because we have the One—the overcoming One, that overcoming life—living within us. By His grace, we can deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him.
May He prepare us to be that vessel He desires, to hasten His return.
Brethren, there is a great conflict and a great battle over preparing the way of the Lord. Samuel was faced with great conflicts and great battles.
Samuel himself was not so much tormented by the Philistines. He had a greater, harder time with the people of God.
Would we be faithful as we continue on, allowing the Lord to meet us and not allowing anything to become a stumbling block or a hindrance to us, that we could continue running well?
In that running well, every step we take, the Lord is doing a little more work of preparing us to be that vessel which would hasten His return. May the Lord help us.
Lord, we do cry out as we ask You to help us. Lord, we know that in many ways You have already provided every help in Christ Jesus.
Lord, we are so slow to respond. As that hymn goes, we are prone to wander. But Lord, we want to take a moment and allow Your Spirit to speak to our hearts.
Lord, we are thankful for the lessons we can see within Samuel’s life. There are many others within his life; we have just touched on a few. But Lord, may these things be used to encourage us in this day.
There are so many things out there that try to discourage us. But may we know the all-sufficiency of Your life, enabling us to press home—not just some way, but triumphantly in You.
Lord, we do not want to be those who have all the regrets and the what-ifs: “Oh, it could have been this way.”
But Lord, we want to be those who continue to press on for that higher ground, not becoming satisfied, but pressing on that we might know You in a fuller and greater way.
We want to be those, Lord, who are hastening and not delaying Your return. In Jesus’ name. Amen.