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Samuel
By John Chopores 1 Samuel 1:20 Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD. Samuel
was a wanted child, any child can become a wanted child, if more people would
go “out of their way” to love and care! Samuel
was also a “prayer for” child, his mother prayer to have him, and for his to
grow in the Lord. Cf. 1 Samuel 1:9 ¶ So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in 1 Samuel 1 Samuel 1:11 And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine
handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine
handmaid, but wilt give unto thine 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 Both
of her prayers, were answered! Cf. 1 Samuel 1 Samuel 3:1 ¶ And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli.
And the word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision. 1 Samuel 3:3 And ere the lamp of God went out in
the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to
sleep; 1 Samuel 3:4 That the LORD called Samuel: and he
answered, Here am I. You
will notice, that Samuel answered, right away! 1 Samuel 3:6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel.
And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I;
for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. 1 Samuel 3:7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD,
neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. Even
Samuel, had to grow in the knowledge of the things of God! 1 Samuel 3:8 And the LORD called Samuel again the
third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here
am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the
child. 1 Samuel 3:9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go,
lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt
say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel
went and lay down in his place. Eli, still had some insight into and knowledge of the Ways of God. And he was very willing to share this with Samuel. A good man will want to help others, learn more of God, and be more in Him! 1 Samuel 1 Samuel Too
many people do not want to hear the voice of God. Cf. Hebrews Not
so, Samuel. 1 Samuel 1 Samuel We all (us humans) have fear, from time to time. So, it was with Samuel, but Eli had him to face up to it. 1 Sam. Of
a truth, Eli wanted also, to know what God said. This can be said about Eli, he
cared about what God said! 1 Samuel You
will notice that, Samuel was not punished for telling the truth, even if, it
was not good news for Eli and his family. This was probably because- 1. Eli feared God. 2. Eli knew that God’s Hand was
on Samuel.
3. Eli was only telling him, what God had said. Still, we are not told that Eli corrected his sons! 1 Samuel God loves faithfulness in His people! “#19-21
All increase in wisdom and grace, is owing to the
presence of God with us. God will graciously repeat his visits to those who
receive them aright. Early piety will be the greatest honour
of young people. Those who honour God he will honour. Let young people consider the piety of Samuel, and
from him they will learn to remember their Creator in the days of their youth.
Young children are capable of religion. Samuel is a proof that their waiting
upon the Lord will be pleasing to him. He is a pattern of all those amiable
tempers, which are the brightest ornament of youth, and a sure source of
happiness.” [MATTHEW HENRY]. We
see that God helps those who are faithful to Him! He did the same for David.
Cf. 1 Samuel And Joseph. Cf.
Genesis 39:2 And
the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house
of his master the Egyptian. As well as many others. Cf. Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in
thee. Job
Psalms 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the
righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them
all. 1 Samuel “Ver. 20. And all 1 Samuel “or the Lord revealed himself to Samuel by the Word of the Lord; by Christ, the Word of the Lord, who appeared to him, it is probable, in an human form, as he was wont to do to the patriarchs and prophets, and by whom the Lord revealed his mind and will unto them, being the Angel of his presence, and the messenger of his covenant; or by giving him a word of command to be delivered by him to the children of Israel, and which is expressed and delivered, in the next chapter.” [JOHN GILL]. 1 Samuel 4:1 ¶ And the word of Samuel came to all We can see by this that, Samuel carried a lot of weight and power, with the people. “1.
the word of Samuel came to all 1 Samuel 7:3 ¶ And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return
unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the
LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the
Philistines. In
a word, “if you want God’s help, come back to Him in holiness!” “3 -6. Samuel spake
unto all the house of 1 Sam. 7: 4 Then the children of “Both their male and female deities,” [JOHN GILL]. …and served the Lord Only; Dr. Lightfoot {i} observes, that a spirit of repentance and conversion came generally upon all the people; a matter and a time as remarkable as almost any we read of in Scripture, one only parallel to it; and that is in Acts, chapters two and three, at the great conversion there.” [JOHN GILL]. “Verse 4. Put away Baalim and AshtarothÑ These were not two particular deities, but two genera of idols; the one masculine, BAALIM; the other feminine, ASHTAROTH; both the words are in the plural number, and signify all their gods and goddesses.” [ADAM CLARK]. 1 Sam. 7:5 And Samuel said,
Gather all Israel to Mizpeh, and I will pray for you
unto the LORD. 1 Sam. 7:6 And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD,
and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And
Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh. “#5,6 Israel drew water and poured it out before the Lord; signifying their humiliation and sorrow for sin. They pour out their hearts in repentance before the Lord. They were free and full in their confession, and fixed in their resolution to cast away from them all their wrong doings. They made a public confession, We have sinned against the Lord; thus giving glory to God, and taking shame to themselves. And if we thus confess our sins, we shall find our God faithful and just to forgive us our sins.” [MATTHEW HENRY]. “6. Samuel judged...Israel in Mizpeh --At the time of Eli's death he could not have much exceeded twenty years of age; and although his character and position must have given him great influence, it does not appear that hitherto he had done more than prophets were wont to do. Now he entered on the duties of a civil magistrate.” [JFB]. “rather signifying hereby that they thoroughly renounced idolatry, that nothing of it should remain; as water entirely poured out, there remains not so much as any smell of it in the cask,” [JOHN GILL]. “The Chaldee text says that they
drew water out of their heart: that is, wept abundantly for their sins.” [ “Verse 6. Drew water, and poured it outÑ It is not easy to know what is meant by this; it is true that pouring out water, in the way of libation, was a religious ordinance among the Hebrews, Isaiah 12:3,) and among most other nations, particularly the Greeks and Romans, who used, not only water, but wine, milk, honey, and blood, as we find by Homer, Virgil, Euripides, Sophocles, Porphyry, and Lucian. Our Lord seems to allude to this ceremony, John 7:37, 38, where see the note. The Chaldee Paraphrast understands the place differently, for he translates: “And they poured out their hearts in penitence, as WATERS, before the Lord.” That deep penitential sorrow was represented under the notion of pouring out water, we have a direct proof in the
case of David, who says, Psalm 22:14, I am POURED OUT LIKE WATER, my heart is
like wax; it is MELTED in the midst of my bowels. And to repentance, under this
very similitude, the prophet exhorts fallen the night; in the beginning of the watches POUR OUT thine HEART LIKE WATER before the face of the Lord Lamentations 2:19. David uses the same image, Psalm 62:8: Trust in him at all times, ye people; POUR OUT your hearts before him. The same figure is used by Hannah in 1 Samuel mentioned in the text was done emblematically, to represent the contrition of their hearts. And Samuel judgedÑ He gave them ordinances, heard and redressed grievances, and taught them how to get reconciled to God. The assembly, therefore, was held for religio-politico-military purposes.” [ADAM CLARK]. “6. Poured it out — As an external sign, whereby they testified, both their own filthiness and need of washing by the grace and Spirit of God, and blood of the covenant, and their sincere desire to pour out their hearts before the Lord, in true repentance, and to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit. Before the Lord — That is, in the public assembly, where God is in a special manner present. Judged — That is, governed them, reformed all abuses against God or man, took care that the laws of God should be observed, and wilful transgressions punished.” [WESLEY].
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