a Message through a Child
It was a heavy burden that the young boy had to carry. To remind Eli of his sons' shameful sin; to reprove him for his neglect; to utter a judgment which no sacrifice could avert-all this was so painful that Samuel seems to have lain with wide-open eyes till daybreak. Then he appears to have gone quietly about his usual duties, as if still unwilling to disturb the quiet serenity of old age. It almost seems that Samuel realized the implicit rejection of Eli and his family, since he, and not Eli, had received the divine message.
Samuel's delicacy in trying to save Eli's feelings is as beautiful as the old man's resignation in hearing the awful disclosure of judgment; and in many a trying hour in after-life, he must have recurred to Eli's reverent expression of submission: “It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.” The secret of a blessed life is to say Yes to God, and as sons to receive the discipline of His chastening and refining providence, Hebrews 12:7.