The books of Samuel bring us to one of the most well known and beloved men of the Bible. David. He was a man after God's own heart, anointed to be king at a young age by the prophet of God, Samuel. However, the song He Is does not highlight David, the psalmist, the King, the killer of a giant. It highlights who God is through the man who anointed him and Saul before him, Samuel.
Before we talk about Samuel, we need to back up and first talk about his mother, Hannah. Hannah was one of two wives to a man named Elkanah. Unlike his other wife Peninnah, who had bore him children, Hannah was barren. While it destressed her greatly, she took action and went to the house of the Lord and prayed, asking Him to look upon her with favor, and to give her a child. She was so focused, so zeroed in on the Lord that her lips were moving, but she wasn't speaking out loud. When the priest Eli saw her in this state, he thought she was drunk and chastised her for it. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. 1 Samuel :15
In her prayer, she made a vow to God: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto think handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. 1 Samuel 1:11
It is a powerful thing to make a vow to God in prayer. What would have happened had she not fulfilled her end of the bargain? We know however, that she did uphold her promise. Samuel, whose name means, Name of God; asked of God; Heard by God, was birthed out of her prayer and her prayer being answered. When Samuel was weaned, she took him to Eli, offered sacrificed and said, For this child I prayed; and the Lord hath given me my petition which I asked of him: 28 Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. 1 Samuel 1:27-28
She trusted God to giver her a son, and He trusted her to give him back. Both were faithful. Because of her faithfulness, God blessed her even more: And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the Lord. 1 Samuel 2:21
The majority of Samuel's childhood was spent learning the ways of the Lord under the tutelage of Eli, who the bible says was very old and his eyesight was very poor by this time.
It is in this timeframe that Samuel received God's call upon his life. He's lying asleep and he hears his name called, so he runs to Eli and says, here I am and Eli tells him, I didn't call you, go back to bed. A second time the Lord says Samuel's name, and again he goes to Eli, only to be told that he didn't call Samuel, to go back to bed. When this happens a third time, Eli clues in that God is calling to the boy so he tells him, "Go, lie down; and it shall be if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, Lord; for they servant heareth." 1 Samuel 3:8
Samuel does as instructed, and the Lord gives him his first prophetic word. When Eli asked him what God had spoken to him, Samuel was afraid to tell him because it spoke of the judgement that Eli's house would face. Eli, encourages him to speak and hide nothing the Lord told him, saying, "It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good." 1 Samuel 3:18
The very next scripture says, "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground." Upon doing research on this scripture, I found a beautiful reference. "Let none of his words fall to the ground" is an archery metaphor. . The arrow that falls to the ground fails to reach its target. In contrast, all of Samuel's words hit their mark. They were effective because God found him to be a reliable "bow" that delivered His words.
Throughout his entire life, Samuel was trusted by the people, and by God. Now, how does this relate to Jesus being our trusted prophet? We find the answer in Hebrews 1: 1-2 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. Jesus not only speaks the words of God, He IS the word of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Jesus is trusted and true, and like Samuel, none of His words fall to the ground. They hit their mark every time be it encouragement, or conviction, full of glory or judgement, no matter the message, the Word of God is trusted and true.
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