Daily EncouragementSample

This sad state of affairs is epitomised in the picture of Eli: “One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place” (1 Sam. 3:2). We see here blindness, lethargy and a traditional routine, to which may be added tolerance for his sons who were “wicked men” with “no regard for the Lord” (1 Sam. 2:12). This was hardly a situation in which the word of the Lord had free course and was being glorified.

But “the lamp of God had not yet gone out” (1 Sam. 3:3), and we may read more into that statement than was originally intended. God, in his grace and mercy, had not abandoned his purpose or his people. “Then the Lord called Samuel. Samuel answered, ‘Here I am’” (1 Sam. 3:4). “Then the Lord . . . ” Only in him could there be hope on such a dark day. “Then the Lord called Samuel . . . ” Samuel was there, ready to hear God, because of his mother’s prayer and her consecration of her son to the Lord and his service: “I prayed for this child . . . So now I give him to the Lord” (1 Sam. 1:27-28). Here, then, is encouragement for godly parents, as well as hope for revival.