1 Sam 3:1, Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. 
	In our last sessions, we considered the prayer of Hannah for her son Samuel. There was a blessing upon him from the time of his conception onward. Samuel was intended, by the Lord, to be one of the great prophets of Israel who would be the last of the judges and the king maker over the nation. God would lead Samuel to the founding of the Davidic kingly order, which would eventually be fulfilled in the birth, crucifixion, resurrection, and glorification of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God. This was a huge responsibility that would be upon this chosen prophet of God, as evidenced even in his youth. 
	There are several aspects about Samuel that we should consider in the depths of our hearts. We are given statements in the Word of God which are causes for us to pause in consideration of what we really expect and know about our relationship with God within the intricate fabric of our hearts and minds. These are not just elements that should be read and then discarded as merely interesting in their breadth and scope of what the Lord was doing. They show what God is still doing through Jesus Christ, by the awesome power of the Holy Spirit! 
	The first such element that is before us is the oh so consequential declaration of 1 Sam 2:11. 1 Sam 2:11, Then Elkanah went to his home at Ramah. But the boy ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest. 
	We have the fact that the family went home, leaving Samuel to minister to the Lord under the tutelage of Eli, the priest. Samuel was set into this place of service, as detailed in Hannah’s prayer, from the time before even the conception of this child. Hannah had besought the Lord with the promise of her son’s perpetual service unto Jehovah.
	The key aspect to this is the fact that Samuel was ministering to the Lord. There was no other plan for him. He was dedicated to and placed into this service by the willing commitment of parents and child and Eli, the priest. All was set in the manner in which Jehovah would find satisfaction, complete satisfaction throughout the course of the service of Samuel as he ministered to The Lord. 
	It should so work in our hearts with respect to how many of us are there of whom it could be said that we minister to The Lord? Yes, Samuel was accounted as a judge and a prophet, but that distinction is based on the truth that he was ministering to the Lord in dedication and reverence and obedience and honor unto God. There was something in his heart which caused him to set everything of his life before the Lord, as it was supported and encouraged by his parents. 
	What about you and me? Can the same be said of us in our relationship with God? Are we ministering to the Lord in the course of how our lives are lived on this earth? We are all called to be priests unto God in the course of our daily walk on this earth. 
	Consider what we are told by the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2:9-12. Please open to this declarative passage as we read it together.
	1 Peter 2:9-12, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts, which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. 
	This is the course of our ministering unto the Lord in our lives as each day progresses. It is a ministry of laying down our lives for the sake of the glory of God to be evidenced on this earth through those whom He has chosen and called unto Himself. It is moment by moment, day by day, week by week, month by month, year after year, decade upon decade ministering to the goodness and the grace and the mercy and the love of God, no matter what the road! No matter what the cost! No matter how much death to self is involved!
	As we see, returning back to our consideration of Samuel, in 1 Sam 3:15-18, this young boy was required to share the Word of God to Eli, the priest who was responsible for all Samuel’s training. This included the truth of having to report everything that God had told Samuel in the night hours. Although there was fear in the opening of his mouth, Samuel was being shown that he must relate what God had for him to say, no matter how that Word of the Lord might be received. Be it before Eli the Priest or, later, Saul the king, Samuel had to learn to always speak that which God bade him to proclaim.
	1 Sam 3:15-18, 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." And he said, "Here I am." And 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." 
	The result of this obedience to Jehovah and to the delivery of the Word of the Lord was developed through instances such as the one we just indicated. Samuel, as the prophet of God, was coming into this ministry at a time when there was very little word given by God, as indicated in this morning’s passage. … And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. 
	This was a very sad state of affairs with regard to the Nation of God, in that they were not hearing from The Lord. This was mostly due to the fact that they did not want to hear. They were set in their idolatry and they did not want to be reminded of their apostasy. 
That is the case with so many of us when we are caught up in the idols of our age with all the manner and means which serve only to distract and derail our desire for going on in Christ Jesus. There is no listening to the Lord so it seems that God withdraws His Holy Word for a period of time until we are famished and thirsting and ready and willing and able to hear that which pricks at the very core of our faithlessness unto God.
	What becomes very evident in this chapter then is the lack of the Word of the Lord at the beginning, until Samuel begins to minister to the Lord. He hears the Lord calling to him, and does not realize it is the Lord until Eli makes it known, as part of the training process into the priesthood. 
Eli discerned that Samuel was being called by the Lord, a discernment and call that Eli had lost because of his lack of dedication and consecration unto the Lord. That is required by all who would want to and desire to hear from God. 
Then, by the end of the chapter, 1 Sam 3:19-21, the Lord’s presence was once again active because there was a priest who wanted to minister before Him in faithfulness and honor and reverence. Accordingly, the Lord made the every word of Samuel to come to pass, because Samuel treasured the Word of God in his heart and mind. The people recognized that the Lord was with Samuel and that he was a true prophet of God by whom the Lord would speak forth His Holy Word.
	1 Sam 3:19-21, 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. 
	Let us now consider another who was known by the fact that the Lord was with him. This was the shepherd boy, David, who would eventually be anointed by the Prophet Samuel as king over all of Israel. 
In 1 Sam 18:12-16, the picture is that of the first king, Saul, who had lost the Spirit of the Lord’s anointing. This was because of Saul’s hatred and anger and selfish apostasy before God and the people whom he was chosen to guide. Saul recognized what he had lost was bestowed upon this David, whom Saul had brought into his very home. The jealousy and the reproach of the Lord clouded the mind of this first king of Israel.
	1 Sam 18:12-16, Now Saul was afraid of David, for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul. Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them. 
	It was readily apparent to Saul that the Lord was with David. It was the Lord Who was prospering David in all his ways. That was what was so irksome to Saul. It brought forth all the anger and animosity and jealousy because it was something that Saul had squandered away frivolously. This was in utter disregard for the holiness and the sanctity and the splendor of serving the Lord with all his heart and mind and being. 
To see how Jehovah was blessing this shepherd boy in such abundance drove Saul to the brink of insanity. At the same time, God made the people love David all the more. Just as with Samuel, the people knew that God was with David.
	It is the son of David who next brings forth what we need to hold near and dear in our heart with respect to the presence of the Lord with us. Please open in your Bibles to 1 Kings 8:54-61 where we have the account of the dedication of the temple that was built by King Solomon. 
	1 Kings 8:54-61, And it came about that when Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, "Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised; not one word has failed of all His good promise, which He promised through Moses His servant. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day." 
	This is the absolute encouragement to all of us to guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ against anything that would distract us from being wholly committed to the minister to the Lord every day of our lives. As we began this morning, we were faced with the terrible reality that the people, at the time of Samuel’s being prepared as the Prophet of the Lord, were not hearing from God very much at all! There was no evident reception or desire after that which the Lord had to say to His nation. Even Eli, the priest, had lost that ear to hear as was evidenced in this opening declaration - And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. 
	This hearing of the Word of God is something that we must cherish! We need to regard it as vital for each day as we walk on this earth! 
Notice what is at stake within this relationship that God has put into place with us. It is so vitally pointed out by Solomon. …May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers… 
	We risk the loss of knowing that the Lord is with us if we are faithless in our desire and dedication unto Him and unto His Word. Our hearts need to embrace and to cherish the every opportunity to hold to the Lord and to listen to Him and to obey Him. 
This is not just for our sake, but as Solomon continues …that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day." 
	What is at stake within this entire consideration is the testimony of the Lord within the lives of those with whom He chooses unto Himself. We are the expressed witness of the difference that Jesus makes in those whom He has redeemed at the priceless cost of His precious blood, and in whom the Holy Spirit now dwells! This is not just a matter of hearing the Word and then filing it away as something that makes no difference in us today. It is the essential requisite of how we feed upon and are nourished and sustained and revitalized and established as the people of God, now and evermore! The testimony that we present on this earth fundamentally adds to the majesty and the splendor and the honor and the reverence of the Lord as evidenced in our eternal adoration of His glory!
	May it never be said of us, that which was so tersely proclaimed by the Psalmist in Ps 74:9. Ps 74:9, We do not see our signs; There is no longer any prophet, Nor is there any among us who knows how long. 
Hold onto the Lord with all our heart and mind and being! Cherish His Word as He opens up His truth through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within the innermost fabric of our beings! Beseech the Holy Spirit to teach us to be those priests who will so minister to the Lord! So be it!
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli. And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent. Amen!

			
This morning’s benediction is Acts 3:19-21. "Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. Amen.