"Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28)

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HEARING THE LORD

Rev. David R. Simons
Lesson: I Samuel 3:1-10,19-21.

At a very early age Samuel was given to the Lord to serve in the tabernacle. Eli the high priest who was to be his master and teacher, was a very old man, and the Lord was preparing Samuel to take his place—to become a leader and a prophet in Israel.

In order that Samuel might grow up to be a prophet he had to learn to recognize the voice of the Lord. For it was a prophet’s duty to give the Word of the Lord to other people.

The story of how the Lord first spoke to Samuel tells you that Samuel did not at first recognize the Lord’s voice. This event took place when Samuel was a boy about six years old. One night before he went to sleep he heard a voice calling his name. Now you must remember that Samuel had never before heard the Lord. Since there was no one else around, he naturally thought it must be Eli, the high priest, who had called him. Quickly, Samuel ran to Eli, only to be told that Eli had not called. No sooner had he lain down again than Samuel was called a second time and again hurried to obey his master. But Eli said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

Then the Lord called Samuel’s name a third time and a third time he hastened to Eli. This time, however, Eli, who had himself often heard the Lord speaking, understood that it was the Lord who had called Samuel. He told Samuel what to answer when he heard his name called again. So when the Lord spoke his name a fourth time, Samuel was prepared and ready. He knew that it was the Lord’s voice and answered, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.” And from that day Samuel became the obedient servant of the Lord and a great prophet through whom the Lord gave His Word to people.

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You know a very similar thing happened to Emanuel Swedenborg. Not when he was a child or boy, although he was prepared from his early youth, but when he was a grown man, fifty-seven years old. He, too, heard the Lord’s voice, and he was commissioned to give the Lord’s Word to the world.

The reason these two men could hear the voice of the Lord and could become His servants was because they had been especially prepared for this purpose and were willing to do whatever the Lord might tell them to do.
The fact that Samuel and Swedenborg heard the Lord speaking to them is very wonderful. It may seems strange to us to read about the ways in which the Lord first spoke to them and gave His Word through them. Yet the truth is that the Lord prepares each one of us to receive Him. Each one of you boys and girls can come to hear His voice. He does not prepare you to be revelators of His Word like Samuel and Swedenborg, but He does open your minds to hear His voice. In fact, if you only knew it, He is calling you all the time. He is calling in His Word. For the Word is the Lord speaking to us.

The Word is like a letter that the Lord sends to us to tell us all about His wonderful kingdom in the heavens—a letter which contains all the secrets of human happiness. Men like Samuel and Swedenborg were chosen to carry this letter, but all people are invited to read it—to hear the Lord speaking to them in its pages.

But, you know, it is a curious thing that although the Lord constantly calls each and every one of us in His Word, and although we may hear His voice very often, still it is only gradually that we come to recognize that it is the Lord’s voice. Only gradually can we be prepared to know that it is the Lord who calls to us.

At first, like Samuel, we think it is someone else’s voice. At first we think it is only our parents and teachers who want us to learn what is true and to do what is good. When you are young, you believe that your parents and teachers want you to learn self-control, order, and obedience for their own sakes. However, this is not true; they want you to learn how to think and how to behave in a good way for the sake of your own happiness. For they know that only when you have learned good habits of action and thought can you be prepared to recognize the Lord’s voice.

If you think about the story of Samuel, you will notice something very important in his behavior. Reflect on what Samuel did each time he was called. If you consider what his reaction was, you can understand the meaning behind this story, for then you will understand the real quality that made Samuel able to recognize the Lord when He called.

The important thing that Samuel did was that he obeyed. He went immediately to Eli to see what Eli wanted. And he did this not just once, but every time he was called. This shows us that Samuel had the habit of obedience and that it was really this habit that made him able to recognize the Lord’s voice and to be capable of serving Him.

The Lord constantly calls all people. He does this in His Word. But only those who have learned obedience, only those who learn to act promptly and with a willing spirit, really hear Him. For it is only through obedience, through the habit of doing what you are told by your parents and teachers, that you can be prepared to serve the Lord.

When you are so prepared, the Lord will speak to you and lead you into the freedom and delight of heaven. For when you practice obedience and learn self-control and how to act, you are given a love of order. Then you will realize that when you obey, you are really learning to hear the Lord Himself and to follow Him, as the angels in heaven do. Then you will be prepared for the eternal happiness that the Lord can give to those who obey and love Him.

Amen.


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