Of Bible boys Samuel is a chief favourite. The reason is that nothing under the sun is more beautiful than piety in childhood. Nothing like grace for making the young graceful. Martin Luther in his gentler moments dwelt with great tenderness on the boyhood of Samuel. He found in him what he longed to see in his own boys and in all boys. When God called "Samuel, Samuel," he answered at once, "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth." There we have, as in a nutshell, the history of a child of God.
I. The Lord speaking. God speaks to us: (1) in His Providence; (2) in His Word; (3) by His Spirit.
II. The child hearing. The ear is one of the main gateways of the soul. But far more wonderful is the inner ear of the heart, or the conscience, by which you hear the noiseless voice of God. You may mistake the voice at first; Samuel did so. But if you mistake God's voice, He will speak to you again and again till you know both the Speaker and His message; and then you will be like this delighted child when he lay listening to his name pronounced by Jehovah's lips.
III. The child serving. Samuel was one of the ministering children of the Bible, for in his childhood he ministered before the Lord. His obedience was: (1) prompt; (2) hearty; (3) lifelong. His motto all through life was, "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth."
J. Wells, Bible Children,p. 133.
In this passage four thoughts are suggested:
I. The sleep. That night God was present in a special manner. He was near to Samuel. But Samuel was unconscious of His presence, for he was asleep. That sleeping boy was a picture of what many boys and girls amongst ourselves are, in a different sense spiritually asleep.There is (1) the sleep of carelessness; (2) the sleep of sin; (3) the sleep of security.
II. God's awakening call. God has many ways of awakening sleepers: (1) There is God's call in the Word; (2) there is God's call in Providence.
III. The lying down again. In Samuel's case this was all right and good. He was an unusually dutiful child. Whenever he was called up he sprang, and that again and again. In the case of most, the lying down again is fatal. It is never safe to count upon more than one call; it is never safe to neglect the first. That was what Lot's wife did, and she never got another chance.
IV. God's call recognised and answered. Let us go to God as Samuel went to Eli, saying, "Here am I, for thou calledst me."
J. H. Wilson, The Gospel and its Fruits,p. 3.
References: 1 Samuel 3:1-19. F. Langbridge, The Sunday Magazine,1885, p. 671. 1 Samuel 3:7. Outline Sermons to Children,p. 32; Parker, vol. vii., p. 59.