1 Samuel 3:10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for your servant hears. These were the words of Samuel. I. THEY REVEAL THE ATTITUDE OF ATTENTION. The man who never leaves his counting room, the student who never lifts his eyes or his attention from his books, will never know the glories of Mendelssohn or Beethoven. The housewife in whose ears is always the clatter of pots and pans will have no time or attention for a sweeter orchestra. So the man or the woman who never listens to God's voice will never hear it. The marginal reference makes a verse in the thirty-seventh Psalm read: "Be silent to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." It is a soul silent unto God that is in the best attitude for knowing Him, for hearing Him, and for holding fast the blessings which He bestows. This marks as indispensable the quiet hour, the moments of silent communion, until our senses have become so refined and our spiritual ears so attentive that, like Nicholas Herman, of Lorraine, the devout monk, better known as "Brother Lawrence," we too can hear God's voice above the din of the market place and the buzz of the schoolroom and the clatter of the kitchen. As someone has welt said: "The very familiarity of the voice of God in Nature or His Word may dull our accustomed ears to its sound, just as the roar of Niagara is never beard by those who live upon the banks of the Horseshoe Falls, and the whirr of the loom in the factory falls upon calloused ears. Because we are familiar with God's message in His house, with His written Word, with His songs of praise, we need all the more to stop said listen that we may catch His individual message for our souls." It is said that so great is the hum of business that the people in the streets of London scarcely ever hear the tolling of the bell in the spire of St. Paul's Cathedral. But they could hear if they would stop a moment in the mad rush of trade, and listen. II. Those words reveal THE ATTITUDE OF OBEDIENCE. "Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth." The hearing was in order to heeding. Some people seem to think that contemplative people must, of necessity, be very unpractical and useless people. They point to the almost barren lives lived by many monks and nuns and others, who, as they say, retired from the world to live lives of spiritual meditation and exclusion from evil. But it was in their retirement from the world, in their seclusion from life's active duties, that they made their mistake. They listened to God's voice, but it was not in the attitude of readiness for self-denying, active obedience. Hearing should always be for heeding. The seasons of contemplation should lead to other and longer seasons of service. In Christian contemplation the ideals of the Christian should glow luminous and living. Hearing in order to heeding; contemplation in order to service; this should be the attitude and method of the true Christian. (G. B. F. Hallock, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. |
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