Catholic Commentary on 1 Samuel 3

"Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3:9)

The Call of Samuel

The boy Samuel ministers before the LORD under Eli. The word of the LORD is rare in those days; there are not many visions. One night the LORD calls: Samuel! He runs to Eli: here I am, you called me. Eli says: I did not call; go back and lie down. This happens three times. Then Eli understands that the LORD is calling the boy and instructs him: go and lie down, and if he calls you, say: speak, LORD, for your servant is listening. The LORD comes and stands there, calling as before: Samuel! Samuel. And Samuel answers: Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.

The LORD gives Samuel his first word: judgment against the house of Eli because his sons are blaspheming God and Eli has not restrained them. Samuel is afraid to tell Eli. Eli presses him: do not hide anything from me. Samuel tells him everything. Eli answers: he is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes. As Samuel grows, the LORD is with him and lets none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel recognises him as a prophet of the LORD. The Catechism identifies Samuel's call as the model of all prophetic vocation: the willingness to listen without knowing the message, the formation of the servant heart that says speak, for I am listening (CCC 2578).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening. The posture before the word of God is listening, not speaking. Samuel did not know what God was going to say before he said it. He simply made himself available to hear. The prayer that positions you as listener before God is the prayer that receives the word that transforms.

Prayer

Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening. We lie down before you in the dark and make ourselves available to whatever you want to say. Do not let any of your words fall to the ground in us. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

3
The LORD Calls Samuel
1 And the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli.
 
Now in those days the word of the LORD was rare and visions were scarce. 2 And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
 
3 Before the lamp of God had gone out, Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was located.
 
4 Then the LORD called to Samuel, and he answered, “Here I am.”
 
5 He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”
 
“I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”
 
So he went and lay down.
 
6 Once again the LORD called, “Samuel!”
 
So Samuel got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”
 
“My son, I did not call,” Eli replied. “Go back and lie down.”
 
7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, because the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. 8 Once again, for the third time, the LORD called to Samuel. He got up, went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you have called me.”
 
Then Eli realized that it was the LORD who was calling the boy. 9 “Go and lie down,” he said to Samuel, “and if He calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ ”
 
So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
 
10 Then the LORD came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
 
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”
 
11 Then the LORD said to Samuel, “I am about to do something in Israel at which the ears of all who hear it will tingle. 12 On that day I will carry out against Eli everything I have spoken about his family, from beginning to end. 13 I told him that I would judge his house forever for the iniquity of which he knows, because his sons blasphemed God * 3:13 LXX; Hebrew made themselves contemptible and he did not restrain them. 14 Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli, ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house shall never be atoned for by sacrifice or offering.’ ”
Samuel Shares the Vision
 
15 Samuel lay down until the morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. He was afraid to tell Eli the vision, 16 but Eli called to him and said, “Samuel, my son.”
 
“Here I am,” answered Samuel.
 
17 “What was the message He gave you?” Eli asked. “Do not hide it from me. May God punish you, and ever so severely, if you hide from me anything He said to you.”
 
18 So Samuel told him everything and did not hide a thing from him.
 
“He is the LORD,” replied Eli. “Let Him do what is good in His eyes.”
 
19 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and He let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.
 
20 So all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD. 21 And the LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, because there He revealed Himself to Samuel by His word.

*3:13 3:13 LXX; Hebrew made themselves contemptible

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