"Speak, for Your Servant is Listening"

In reading 1 Samuel 2 and 3 this morning about Eli’s sons, Hophni and Phinehas, I realized that much more was going on than just bad behavior. When seen alongside the thread of Samuel’s growing wisdom and trusting obedience to the Lord, their response to God reveals a dire heart condition. They had the same opportunity as Samuel to minister before the Lord and serve His people, but the Bible says they did not know the Lord (1 Samuel 2:12). As a result, their lives were cut off, and their ministry was removed.

It’s hard to comprehend that these were sons of the High Priest and the Judge over Israel. When God chose Eli and his family line, He set them apart for priestly service, which required that they walk in awe and reverence for the Lord. They were to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, which in the Hebrew culture was a term of exclusive covenant loyalty to their God. They were to have no other gods before Him. But their ministry title did not change the inner condition of their heart. Though they went through the priestly ministry training, showed up for service each day, and were even robed in holy garments, this was no indication of spiritual life or flourishing because they did not know God.

They were not only blaspheming the Lord’s name in the way they handled sacrifices and treating those making them with contempt, but they committed sexual immorality with women who served at the tabernacle door. When their father rebuked them, warning them that they were not only sinning against man but against a holy God, they would not listen (2:25). The word listen here in Hebrew is shema. This means to go beyond the hearing of external words to responding in trusting obedience to their father’s divine authority as the High Priest of God and teacher of Israel. They heard what their father said, but did not shema him – truly heeding his words.

Reading this account is like reading a novel, where we see the villains going from one dark episode to another while the hero is rising and living in a way completely contrary to them. From the time Samuel was a small boy, we see he “ministered before the Lord under the priest Eli” (2:11). Clothed in his tunic, sewn each year by his mom, he stood before the Lord and learned to truly shema Him.

Eli’s sons rejected God’s Word, rebelled against authority, and trusted in themselves rather than trusting in God. Samuel’s life took a different trajectory as he listened to God’s Word, heeded Eli’s instructions, and was obedient to God. And God took note, bringing words of rebuke to Eli through a prophet and reminding him that “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained” (1 Samuel 2:31). He went on to pronounce judgment on Eli, his sons, and his offspring, declaring that not only would his sons die but that no one in their family line would reach old age (2:31).

He then promised to raise up a faithful priest whose work would be firmly established. From here, He begins further revealing Himself to Samuel, speaking to him in the night and calling out his name. When Eli discerns that this is, in fact, God speaking to Samuel, he encourages him to respond with six very important words that would change his life: “Speak, for your servant is listening.” These words were an instruction to do much more than hear God speaking, which Eli and his sons had done. They were a call to pay careful, trusting attention to God’s words and then do what God said.

Ironically, God pronounced further judgment on Eli and his family to Samuel, which he relayed to Eli. Rather than disciplining his sons and removing them from office, he acquiesced to the judgment. The text does not record repentance or a plea for mercy from Eli. Instead, he simply responds, “He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes” (1 Samuel 3:18).

And then we see the contrast between Eli’s sons and Samuel become even clearer. “The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up,” and all Israel recognized that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. He continued to appear at Shiloh and revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word (1 Samuel 3:19–21), because Samuel had learned not simply to hear the voice of God, but to listen to, trust, and respond.

Sadly, there are many in evangelical ministry today who, clothed in their robes or logoed ministry shirts, show up to serve at all the important events and even teach the Bible—who do not know God or bring Him glory. God wants much more than a ministry label, with pious words and religious benedictions. He wants our hearts to be submitted to and aligned with His will so that we are not just hearers of the Word but trusting doers.

The story of Eli’s sons and Samuel causes me to shift my focus from, “Am I daily reading and studying God’s Word?” to “Am I really listening to God speak to me through His Word by the Spirit so that I, in trust, do what he says?” Samuel’s words, “Speak, for your servant is listening,” challenge me to remain in a heart position to receive instruction from God – submitting to His full authority and turning away from sin when He reveals it.

Lord, give me ears to hear, a heart that is willing to obey, and the humility to say, like Samuel, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

An Empty Jar, a Barren Womb, and an Open Tomb

If you were planning to feed someone, how likely is it you would have them travel about 100 miles on foot to a widow’s house you knew was about to run out of food? Or if you planned on raising up a great leader for a nation, would your likely choice be a barren woman to give birth to him? As rational humans, we would never make these decisions, because they defy human logic. But for God, whose thoughts and ways are beyond ours, these are exactly the kind of choices that display His wisdom and power.

The story of Elijah and the widow is a powerful example of how God chooses unlikely people to accomplish His purposes. Elijah had spent about two years at Kerith Ravine during the drought God brought on Israel because of their idolatry and rebellion. When the brook dried up, God told him to go to Zarephath in Sidon, where He would find a widow God had chosen to provide him with food. When Elijah arrived, he discovered that she was not in any position to feed him. She had a nearly empty jar of flour and no money to buy any more. In fact, she had only a handful of flour—just enough for her last meal with her son. And after that, she was expecting to die of starvation.

After being miraculously fed by God through ravens for years, he was likely not surprised at God’s choice of this near-destitute woman to supply his needs. Without hesitation, he told her to make the bread and first prepare his meal, and then she and her son could eat. When she acted by faith and did what he asked, the word of the Lord came to him that “The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land” (1 Kings 17:14). And that is exactly what happened. The flour and oil were refilled day after day, just as the Lord had promised (1 Kings 17:15–16).

Similarly, when Israel was experiencing deep spiritual thirst because of their sin and the oppression of the Philistines, the angel of the Lord came to the home of a barren woman to promise the coming of a son, Samson, who would help deliver Israel from their enemies (Judges 13:5). What appeared to be an impossible situation became the story of God’s miraculous intervention. The Lord opened her barren womb, and she gave birth to one of Israel’s most powerful judges.

We see this same pattern most clearly in the life and work of Jesus. If we were writing the story of salvation, we probably would not have chosen a humble woman, a manger or a cross as the way God would save the world. The cross looked like the ultimate place of weakness and death. But God chose that very place to reveal His greatest power and accomplish our salvation. And then, just when it seemed that death had won, God brought life out of the tomb. The empty tomb became the ultimate reminder that what looks barren or hopeless to us is never beyond God’s ability to redeem and transform.

God’s Power Revealed

If it were up to us, we’d likely choose people who were strong, influential, and wealthy to fulfill important tasks. But God repeatedly chooses those who are weak, insignificant, and poor so that all glory from the miracle would go to Him. These stories remind us that God brings life and salvation out of places where the human eye only sees emptiness, barrenness, and death.

An empty jar, a barren womb, and an empty tomb. They all remind us that God does His greatest work among people and in places that we least suspect. When I find myself in a similar storyline, I want to remember that what appears empty and hopeless to me is never beyond God's ability to fill and redeem. If I will look to Him and trust Him, I can have confidence that my emptiness can become a place where His supernatural power is revealed.

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20)

When Defeat Doesn't Mean Disobedience

What do you do when you obey God, certain that you’ve done what He’s asked you to do, and the result is defeat? When this happens, the temptation is to think that God must not be in this, that we must have missed His leading, or this cannot be His will. As a result, we often quit and quickly change direction. But God reveals in Scripture that this is often not the case, and that instead of giving up or coming under condemnation, thinking that our disobedience caused the defeat, He wants us to come to Him with our weeping while at the same time calling out to Him for further wisdom about how to move forward.

Many of us believe that if God has called us to something, the path should be straightforward and easy. But Judges 20 provides a sobering reminder that it is often just the opposite. We can be right in the center of God’s will and still experience painful defeat. 

When the tribes of Israel heard the report of the evil done among the Benjaminites to a fellow Levite and his concubine, who were traveling through their town, they were greatly disturbed. They first appealed to their brothers to release the men who had committed the crime of rape and murder, but the Benjaminites refused. As a result, Israel gathered four hundred thousand soldiers and then went before the Lord to ask who was to first go and fight their enemy. The Lord responded that Judah was to take the lead, so they followed His command and went to battle the next morning expecting victory. But to their surprise, they lost 22,000 men. In shock and despair, they “wept before the Lord until evening” and then prayed again, this time asking Him if they were to go back into battle. Again, God responded positively: “Go up against them” (Judges 20:23).

The Lord’s “yes” seemed again to be His promise that they would succeed. But instead, they experienced another huge loss of 18,000 men on the second day, leaving them more perplexed and discouraged than before. So once again, they went before the Lord, weeping and praying, but this time also offering sacrifices to Him -- which was according to the instructions of God's Word. When they asked if they should keep fighting, the Lord gave them an even more hopeful promise: “Go, for tomorrow I will give them into your hands” (Judges 20:28).

The missing assurance from the Lord the first two times they inquired of Him became significant when it was present the third time, when He said, “I will give them into your hands.” His additional words of comfort could have been in response to their deeper questions, which initially did not include asking if God wanted them to go to battle, but rather who they should send. God also was trying to teach them that they should approach Him for victory only through the blood of a lamb -- ultimately the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). As they continued to inquire of God and surrendered their hearts to do His will, His counsel moved from the general to the very specific assurance that He was going to fight this battle for them. Yet they never would have heard this message if they had assumed He was not with them or for them and had given up praying and seeking the Lord. It’s possible He was testing their faith to see if they would listen to, trust, and obey Him.

In His sovereign wisdom, God determined that the loss of Israel’s 40,000 soldiers was necessary before they could defeat the Benjaminites. By allowing them to face such a significant loss, they likely saw their own sinfulness, their inability to fight in their own strength, and their great need for the Lord’s gracious help, which comes through the blood of the Lamb. God wanted them to know that He was the righteous judge and that this battle, along with all others, was His. In fact, in Judges 20:35, we read that it was “the Lord [who] defeated Benjamin before Israel.” He gave them wisdom to devise an ambush, and when they counterattacked, He caused the Benjaminites to become terrified and flee.

Israel could have easily assumed after the first and second losses that they were completely out of God’s will. They could have stopped praying, and given up on the battle, or they could have determined to do it in their own strength without Lord’s help. Either way, they would have missed God’s blessings and His best—which can only be experienced through a life of dependence on Him and His presence. Instead, they poured out their hearts, weeping and lamenting over their losses, while looking up to fix their gaze on the Lord, who they knew could lead and comfort them.

Their story reminds me of the importance of seeking God’s will and also staying the path He has called me to until He shows me to move in a different direction. This means refusing to give in to despair when my circumstances do not go as I have planned. At the same time, it involves humbling myself before Him to be willing to grow in my understanding of what He desires. Recently, God has used defeat to teach me greater dependence on Him, allowing losses and suffering to press me into more intense times of prayer and lament—not to win his favor, but to realign my heart to better understand, desire, and obey His will.

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you” (2 Chronicles 20:12).