September 4

1 And the child Samuel ministered unto the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was precious in those days, there was no open vision. 2 And it came to pass at that time, when Eli was laid down in his place, and his eyes began to wax dim, that he could not see; 3 And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep. 4 That the LORD called Samuel and he answered, Here am I.

5 And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; he down again. And he went and lay down. 6 And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; he down again. 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him.

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8 And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I, for thou doest call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child.

9 Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, he down; and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.

11 ¶ And the LORD said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall sing e.

12 In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house; when I begin, I will also make an end.

13 For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not.

14 And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli's house

shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

15 ¶ And Samuel lay until the morning, and opened the doors of the house of the LORD. And Samuel feared to shew Eli the vision.

16 Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.

17 And he said, What is the thing that the LORD hath said unto thee? I pray thee hide it not from me: God do so to thee, and more also, if thou hide any thing from me of all the things that he said unto thee.

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

19 ¶ And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.

20 And all Israel from Dan even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.

21 And the LORD appeared again in Shiloh; for the LORD revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the LORD.

"Of Bible boys Samuel is a chief favorite. 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."—J. Wells.

Life is full of the calls of God. The mode of the call may be various, and the manner in which the call may be received may be various also. We are all taught to expect to be called of God. None are too poor, too humble, too little gifted; all are to be fellow-workers with God. How, then, do we respond to God's call? Is not Samuel's answer, "Speak, Lord; for Thy servant heareth," in its childlike simplicity, faith and submissiveness, a most beautiful and perfect type of what our answer should be? Even the maturest and most saintly cannot transcend this response of the temple-child.

Closet Promise.—And He calleth His own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.—John x. 3.

And what can fill us with a loftier inspiration, or lift us with a more sublime and blessed confidence than this—the fact that Christ, the Eternal Shepherd, has a personal recognition of us, leading us on by name and calling us to follow? No matter whether He call us into ways of gain or of suffering, of honor or of scorn, it is all one with such a leader before us. Nay, if we go down to sound the depths of sorrow and ennoble the pains of sacrifice and perfume the grave of ignominy, what are these but a more inspiring and more godlike call, since He is now our leader even there?—Horace Bushnell.