Speak, O Lord!

1 Samuel 3

“Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”
- 1 Samuel 3:7

The prophet Samuel looms large in the history of Israel. Samuel served as a bridge between the time of the judges and the kings. He was Israel’s last judge. He served as a priest and anointed her first two kings. But most notably, Samuel was a prophet who spoke the very words of God to all Israel.

1 Samuel 3 begins by telling us that Samuel was ministering before the Lord (vs.1) but he did not yet know the Lord (vs.7). Samuel had intellectual knowledge about God and he knew who God was. But the word for “knowing” in verse 7 means to know by experience or intimate acquaintance. This kind of experiential knowledge would only come when God revealed himself through his word. The word of the Lord hadn’t been revealed to Samuel yet. In fact, we learn that the word of the Lord was rare in those days (v. 1).

Today the word of the Lord is no longer rare. We have been given the written words of God in Scripture. God calls each of us to know him through this word, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Not just to have intellectual knowledge about God. But rather, as we read and study the written word, we will become acquainted with and experience Jesus, the Living Word.

Last year the de Jong family lost two uncles who had showed us what it meant to know God in this way. Uncle Pete lived and breathed the gospel. He was able to weave its good news into every conversation. When his children cleaned out his office, they found business cards covered in Bible verses that he had committed to memory. Some were over 50 years old, but he continued to study and review them regularly. Uncle John read the Bible each and every day. The easy parts and the hard parts. In the trials of his life, he was able to say with Eli, “He is the Lord, let him do what is good in his eyes.” (vs. 18).

God revealed himself to Samuel through his spoken word. Samuel listened and came to know God in a real and intimate way. Through Samuel, God’s word went out to all Israel. Like Samuel, my uncles had experienced God through his word when he spoke to them in Scripture. As we begin a new year, it’s a good time to examine our daily habits and practices. Are we becoming acquainted with and experiencing God through Scripture? Or is the word of the Lord rare in our lives?

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You
To receive the food of Your Holy Word
Take Your truth, plant it deep in us
Shape and fashion us in Your likeness

That the light of Christ might be seen today
In our acts of love and our deeds of faith
Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us
All Your purposes for Your glory!
(Stuart Townsend & Keith Getty)

~ Anneke de Jong