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It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. The sentence which was pronounced on Eli and his house was almost as severe as can be conceived. But the manner in which it was received by him shows that, notwithstanding the defects of his character, he possessed the "spirit of faith," which shone like a spark of fire amidst the ashes and gloom of his closing days. He did not refuse to admit its Divine Author, did not question its justice, did not rebel against it and seek to reverse it, did not fret and murmur and give himself up to despair. His language expresses a spirit the exact opposite of all this. "When Samuel had told him every whit, Eli replied, It is the Lord. The highest religion could say no more. What more can there be than surrender to the will of God? In that one brave sentence you forget all Eli's vacillation. Free from envy, free from priestcraft, earnest, humbly submissive; that is the bright side of Eli's character, and the side least known or thought of" (F.W. Robertson).

I. HE RECOGNISES THE APPOINTMENT OF GOD. "It is the Lord," or "he is the Lord," who has spoken. He believed that the voice was really his, notwithstanding

(1) it came to him indirectly - through the agency of another;

(2) it came in an unexpected manner; and

(3) it announced what he naturally disliked to hear, and what was most grievous. These things sometimes dispose men to doubt "the word of the Lord," and are made excuses for rejecting it. It is not, in its mode of communication or in its contents, "according to their mind." But the spirit of faith ventures not to dictate to God how or what he shall say, and it perceives the Divine voice when those who are destitute of it perceive only what is purely natural and human.

II. HE JUSTIFIES THE RECTITUDE OF GOD. Such justification (Psalm 51:4) -

1. Is implied in the acknowledgment that it comes from Jehovah, who alone is holy (1 Samuel 2:2). "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis 18:25).

2. Proceeds from the conviction that it is deserved on account of the iniquity of his sons, and his own sins of omission (Lamentations 3:39; Micah 7:9). They who have a due sense of the evil of sin are not disposed to complain of the severity of the sentence pronounced against it.

3. Is not the less real because not fully expressed, for silence itself is often the most genuine testimony to the perfect equity of the Divine procedure. "Aaron held his peace" (Leviticus 10:3; Psalm 39:9, 11).

III. HE SUBMITS TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. "Let him do what seemeth him good."

1. Very reverently and humbly (1 Peter 5:6). It is vain to contend against him.

2. Freely and cheerfully; not because he cannot be effectually resisted, but because what he does is right and good; the spontaneous surrender and sacrifice of the will.

3. Entirely. "The will of the Lord be done" (Acts 21:14).

IV. HE CONFIDES IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD. "Good." "Good is the word of the Lord" (2 Kings 20:19). Eli could not have spoken as he did unless he believed that -

(1) God is merciful and gracious;

(2) in wrath remembers mercy, mitigating the force of the storm to all who seek shelter in his bosom; and

(3) "out of evil still educes good" (Romans 8:28). Let us be thankful for the surpassing motives and influences afforded to us under the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 12:10, 11; Revelation 21:4; Revelation 22:3). - D.

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KJV: And Samuel told him every whit, and hid nothing from him. And he said, It is the LORD: let him do what seemeth him good.

WEB: Samuel told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is Yahweh. Let him do what seems good to him."