1 Samuel Chapter 3

A retelling of a bible story.

It was dark, and a little rainy, but it was truly the darkness that scared me. If it were light out and rainy, I’d atleast be able to see. But, with the darkness, anything could mysteriously warp into existence. And it’s not like I could call mum or pop to come save me--for they were all the way in Ephriam. Well, Eli says I can call upon the Lord to save me, but it doesn’t calm any of my fears of the darkness. Eli has come to my aid dozens of times, but always tells me I have nothing to be afraid of, that nothing will pop out of the darkness, come in my tent, and swallow me whole. Am I being over-dramatic? Eli tells me I have an overactive imagination; but, I don’t see it. The darkness is a scary place, which is why I was surprised when a voice had awoken me from my sleep one night. I had just fallen into a slumber and, naturally, assumed Eli was summoning me to some priestly duties. Why he would do so in the middle of the night was a mystery to me, but I thought nothing of it, for the voice had called, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Thus, I threw back the wool blanket and leaped from my sleeping roll, darting to the tent where Eli slept. His candle was still aflame, a tiny scroll open and lying on his chest that had a swift rise and fall; he must have fallen asleep while reading. I stood at the foot of his bed and responded, “here I am, for you called me,”

Eli jolted awake, and looked surprised to see me standing before him, “I didn’t call you,” he waved me away with his wrinkled hand, “go lie down again.”

I did as the old priest told me to, but my mind still wondered who had called me. I was back at my sleeping roll, to which I climbed back inside and had drifted off when I heard the voice again, “Samuel!”

‘He may not have called me the first time, but surely Eli was calling me now’ I thought, throwing aside my blankets and rising from my bed. Again, I ran straight to Eli’s tent and, out-of-breath, I responded, “here I am, for you called me,”

“I didn’t call you, my boy,” Eli shook his head, “go back to sleep.” And I did as Eli told me to do. As I walked back to my tent, I briefly considered that I was going mad. Because, surely, only an insane person heard the voices of those not there. There can be no other explanation! I thought to myself as I clambered into my sleeping roll once more. And then again, I found myself drifting off when the voice called again, “Samuel! Samuel!” This time, trying to conceal my frustration, I rose from my sleeping spot and hurried off to Eli’s room for the third time.

“Here I am,” I started, “and I swear I heard you call me.”

Eli sat up in his bed, a look of confusion plastered on his face. He looked as though he was about to say something, then came a flash of realization, “Oh, my boy, go lie down again; and, this time, if voice calls you again, say, ‘speak, Lord, for your servant hears’.” I nodded and did as I was told, running quickly back to my tent.

Back beneath my blankets, and pulling them up to my chin, the voice called to me as it had done the past three times. Except this time, rather than run to Eli, I remembered what I was told, “speak, Lord, for your servant hears.” The Lord continued on after I spoke, telling me of his plans to punish Eli’s house forever, because his sons had been wicked and he had done nothing to stop them. Upon this, I was horrified; Eli, the one person who had been looking out for me in Shiloh, was going to be punished by the Lord. And not only that, his sons and his entire household. Forever. Forever seems like an unreasonable amount of time, but it is the Lord, who is never unreasonable. The Lord was done speaking to me, but His words laid heavy in my heart. How could I ever tell Eli that the Lord, of whom he had devoted his life to, was going to punish him and his household for their wickedness. My eyes were bolted open, it felt as though there was no way to shut them, and no way to quiet my mind from thinking about what the Lord had told me.

In the morning, I had arisen to attend to my duties in the temple, when Eli pulled me aside. “Samuel, my boy,” he spoke.

“Here I am,” I answered.

Eli leaned into me and whispered, “what was it that He told you? ...If you don’t tell me, may God do to you, or more, for hiding what He told you.”

I bit my lip (truly it’s a nasty habit), and he said, “speak, my son,” And I obeyed what the old priest told me to do, telling him everything the Lord had told me. Eli’s face dropped slightly, but still composed himself, “it is the Lord; let Him do what seems good to Him.” And with that, he left me to my duties, my heart still saddened from knowing his fate.

That happened just over a week ago, and the words of the Lord have not yet come into existence. But I know they will eventually, because it’s the Lord. As much as I don’t want to lose Eli, I know that I must adhere closely to the Lord’s plan….I hope that I always adhere to the Lord’s plan. I may only know what the Lord wants me to know of the future, but I hope that I will do good in the eyes of my Lord.