Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 41 · February 10
Learning the Voice
“And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.”
It is night at Shiloh, in the house of God. An old priest named Eli lies in his place, and the text says "his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see." A boy named Samuel is asleep in the temple, "where the ark of God was." And the lamp of God is still burning.
"The word of the LORD was precious in those days; there was no open vision." Precious here means rare. Into that silence, a voice calls the boy's name. Samuel gets up and runs to the wrong man, and he does it three times.
Notice how little help the story gives on the question you may have brought to it: how do I know it is God? Samuel could not tell the voice of God from the voice of the old man across the room, even though he was already serving the LORD. The text explains why: "Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him."
No sign is described, and we are told nothing about what the voice sounded like. What sorts it out is Eli. He is nearly blind, and God's judgment on his house has already been announced, yet he is the one who gives Samuel the words to say: "Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth." The man who taught Samuel to listen was the man the message was about.
And the message brought no comfort. Samuel "lay until the morning," and he "feared to shew Eli the vision." Notice also what he leaves out when the voice comes the fourth time. He answers, "Speak; for thy servant heareth," and drops the word LORD. The chapter does not explain why, and it does not tell you how to be sure. What it does tell you is that God kept calling. He "called as at other times," until the boy answered.
Speak, Lord. Your servant hears badly and has run to the wrong door more than once. We would like a sign we could describe afterward, and none is offered here. Say the thing anyway. If it takes someone we do not much respect to tell us it was You, we will take it that way. Thank You for calling again, and again, until we answer. Amen.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 41 is Always Peace (2 Thessalonians 3:16).