Sermon 15: 1 Samuel 3:18-21

18. So Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him. And he answered: He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes. 19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and none of all his words fell to the ground. 20. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. 21. And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because the Lord had been revealed to Samuel in Shiloh, according to the word of the Lord.

We have heard the sentence pronounced against the house of Eli, of which Samuel, though still a boy, was appointed by the Lord as witness and herald, to announce it to Eli himself, now an old man and indeed of advanced age, under whose instruction Samuel had been raised and educated. From where it would seem that Eli was given no small occasion for indignation, as if he were suffering a notable disgrace from God — that he, already an elder, should be judged by a youth. For, as we have seen, Eli was already of advanced age and was the high priest; and we are not unaware how indignantly men bear being rebuked by those whom they know to be placed below them. But on the contrary, with how calm and peaceful a mind he accepts the condemnation and the denunciation of punishments against himself and his whole family! A worthy example for imitation indeed: from which let us learn to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and if ever God, to our greater disgrace, uses boys or persons of the lowest condition to convict us of our sins, let us fall completely silent. And since the correction flows from the Lord, let us not inquire into the age or the dignity of this or that person, but look to God himself, who has seen fit to use their service, and let us know that our obedience is thus being tested by him. Moreover, the following words are worthy of the highest attention, when Eli says: He is the Lord; He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes. By which we are taught that we must never contend with God in words, or respond to him in any way, but rather yield to his goodness, truth, power, justice and uprightness: even if no reason for the divine judgments appears to us and we rather think we are suffering injustice, nevertheless the uprightness of the divine judgments must be adored. For if men indulged themselves in this regard and gave reins to their desires, they would never make an end of quarrels and contention with God, especially when God treats them contrary to their own will. From this a general maxim must be drawn: that God, since he is Lord of all things, has absolute sovereign power to do whatever he pleases; and that the supreme majesty attributed to him must be revered and adored by all, and they must calmly submit themselves to it. And therefore when it concerns the governance of divine justice, all force of human judgment is excluded, and the knowledge and administration of all things is attributed to him alone: so that if by chance we should wish to undertake anything without God's knowledge or against his will, we ought to desist from this very thing, because God's will is contrary. In short, from this it must be observed that man should dare and undertake nothing contrary to or beyond God's will. Indeed rather he should be worshipped with such reverence that we learn to deny ourselves and not to be wise in our own eyes, lest we set our vain opinions against his judgments, but impose silence on our reason and judgment. For our votes have no place here; it is God's part alone, and we must acquiesce in his judgment alone, lest we oppose him. Therefore when we say that the Lord has done something, all human reasoning ceases; no further place remains for dispute or human judgments, as if something would be better or more just if it happened otherwise. Let us know that human reason is blind in pronouncing judgment on the rectitude of the divine judgments: but let us ask that it be sharpened for the admiration of them and for deriving benefit from them, when God upholds the truth of his word and punishes its despisers. Thus Paul teaches us that if we have been chastised, we should not murmur, but looking into and examining ourselves, condemn and abhor our sins. Therefore let supreme power be conceded to God, and let our reason be silent. For who would dare contend with the Lord? Who would inquire into his judgments? For is not that blasphemy detestable, when a wretched little man wants to measure God's judgments by his own standard and rule, and to inquire into his works? But what else, I ask, do mortals do every day, contending against God in various ways and never calmly acquiescing in his judgments? How few are not driven to this by their curiosity and malice? Therefore every effort must be made that whatever judgments God exercises, even if they do not correspond to the measure of our understanding, we nevertheless not rise up against him or inquire into them. And indeed the greater caution must be applied here because we are by nature more inclined to this fault: so that mindful of this saying — 'Let the Lord do what is good in his eyes' — we may commit ourselves entirely to God, and since we are blind by nature, let us allow ourselves to be governed and led, and adoring his judgments, let us cry out with the prophet: 'How good and right are your judgments, O Lord!'

That reasoning, moreover — 'He is the Lord, he is eternal' — has the same force as if Eli were teaching that the Lord is not to be forced into the rank of earthly judges, whose judgments are often crooked, inclining to one side or the other out of favoritism: for often corrupted by gifts, often by favors, judges incline to one side or the other, so that it is not at all surprising that many reasons are sought on every side by which the injustice of those toward whom favor inclines may be covered. But far be it that we make God like these. Since he is eternal, it is certain that nothing can be governed and administered by him except with the highest integrity, equity, perfection and wisdom, whose will alone — never contradicting itself — is always just and immutable, and therefore it is most fitting that we ourselves be subject to it. Even though no small virtue appears in Eli — that he calmly submits himself to the Lord and entirely acquiesces in the condemnation announced by a youth — he was nevertheless not affected by it as he should have been. For he ought to have recalled his sons to repentance and a better mind from their shameful and wicked life, or at least to have applied every effort to that very end: which, however, we see was not done by him. Therefore this must be observed: that even though Eli is in part governed by the Spirit of God, since he showed himself teachable and not at all refractory in receiving the certainly unpleasant news of the future death of his sons, the capture of the ark of the covenant, and the transfer of the priesthood from his family forever in disgrace — even though, I say, that modesty in him was praiseworthy — he nevertheless did not discharge his duty. For it is certain that even wicked and incorrigible men are accustomed to break out into these very words. Just as Paul himself shows that enemies of divine predestination and wicked men speak thus, and like dogs barking at divine providence, [unclear] biting and gnashing their teeth, we see them breaking out into these words: 'He is the Lord, let him do what he wills; who shall resist his will?' But this was not the mind of Eli, whose modesty and reverence for the divine majesty in pronouncing these words we observe, even though he did not fully discharge his duty in this matter. Therefore every effort must be given so that we not only give glory to God with our mouth for his wisdom, justice and uprightness, but whenever we are spurred to repentance by him, we may inquire more severely into our life, so that hereafter we may groan before God for our sins and detest and flee from our vices with our whole heart. We see David went even further, as is clear from chapter 15 of the second book. For when he was driven from his kingdom by his own son Absalom — which was far graver for him than if he had been cast out of the world with his entire family — and he saw his son conspiring against him and stirring up the whole people, he went with his head uncovered, and like a defendant seems to seek hiding places to escape disgrace and death. Indeed when he saw the ark of the covenant moved from its place and being carried around for his sake, ordering it to be returned to its place, he says: 'If I find favor before the Lord, he will show it to me when I return, and his tabernacle. But if he says: You do not please me — behold, here I am; let him determine whatever pleases him concerning me.' These words of David are far different from Eli's. For Eli, as if thunderstruck and despairing of a remedy, stood dumbfounded, as if thinking to himself: 'What shall I gain if I complain to God and contend with him? It is better for one defeated to lie with bowed head and patiently endure what has been decreed.' But David is prepared for every outcome and demonstrates that he is ready to follow God in reality wherever he may lead. And so on the one hand he hopes to be restored by God and returned to his former dignity and royal throne; on the other hand he prepares himself for graver circumstances, and even if he must be expelled from and rejected from the kingdom, he shows himself obedient and compliant to God: not indeed attributing absolute dominion to him, as the wicked are accustomed to do, but acknowledging him as his God, and indeed as always just. Moreover, when he says 'If the Lord rejects me,' we must be careful not to understand that rejection as referring to heavenly life, as if he had been deleted from the book of life. For the hope is fixed more deeply in his soul that he, once adopted as a member of the church by God, would never be cast out of it, but would find God to be his savior. But he so abdicates and yields the temporal kingdom that he asks to be chastised by God in such a way that the chastisement may be useful and fruitful for him. From this then let us learn that whatever chastisements God may send, they proceed from his hand in such a way that we are not to answer back or contend with God. And when his judgments seem new and unusual, and we think we could rightly contradict them, let us nevertheless with closed mouth stand still and, acknowledging the weakness of our nature and the feebleness of human judgment, calmly acquiesce in them. And therefore if passions boil up within us and carry us beyond the bounds of reason, let us restrain and check them, and weighing ourselves against the majesty of God, let us examine ourselves thus: 'Do you, a wretched little man, really dare contend against God, and resist his power, and struggle against his incomprehensible majesty?' Therefore the power of God must be acknowledged not merely so that we confess that no one can resist him and say that we must patiently await whatever seems good to him: but in order that the Lord's chastisements may be fruitful, as paternal ones — and therefore so that we may fear him as judge yet never doubt his paternal goodness toward us. But above all, our curiosity and arrogance must be bridled, lest we measure God's judgments by our own judgment, but rather let us adore his immense and infinite wisdom, and look up in wonder at his inscrutable judgments, and with eyes closed, as it were, follow him wherever he may finally lead.

And so much indeed for this. Meanwhile Samuel is said to have grown, and the Lord to have been with him, from which we learn that whatever honest and good thing befalls men is a gift of God, not flowing from nature. Indeed whatever gifts we have by nature are to be credited to God, because they flow from the fountain of all good things. A benefit of this kind is that he formed men, and this is his singular benefit. For he could have ordered them to be brute beasts. Then whoever is endowed with goodness of intellect, quickness, or some other gift — for the Lord's gifts are various and he bestows them variously — ought he not to give thanks to God for them, since otherwise he would be ungrateful toward God and would rob him of his deserved praise? But truly this passage has something particular, by which we are taught not only to acknowledge the testimony of God's liberality toward us in the gift we have received from nature, but also that the continuation of his gifts is necessary, and we should know that whatever is excellent and praiseworthy in us flows from his kindness, by which it pleased him to reveal himself to us. And the meaning of these words is this: that God was with Samuel. For hereafter we shall see how great was his integrity, how great his zeal in promoting the glory of God, how great his piety, how great his care and diligence in administering justice and governing the people, and what a distinguished prophet he was. And so, that we may know that God wishes to be held and acknowledged as the author of all good things, and cannot bear men attributing and arrogating these things to themselves, these words are placed before the rest as a kind of preface. Therefore let us acknowledge that God, in bestowing his gifts, does not want them to be buried by us, or his glory to be obscured by our ingratitude, but to be proclaimed and extolled with the highest praises, so that with the apostle Paul let us say: What do you have that you did not receive, and if you received it, why do you boast? Moreover, this doctrine must be more deeply impressed upon our minds, so that whatever virtues shine forth in us, we may acknowledge them to be from the singular liberality of God — not only so that we may be stirred up to render due praise and glory to him, but so that we may run to this fountain to supply our deficiencies and poverty: because he is the father of lights, and every gift is from him, as James reminds us, and he exhorts us to flee to him. Therefore, let us hold fast — the whole of Scripture proclaiming it — that we can draw whatever is excellent from no other source than the sheer liberality of God.

Next, all Israel from Dan to Beersheba — that is, the entire people, for Scripture often describes all twelve tribes by these boundaries — is said to have recognized that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. Samuel is specifically called a faithful prophet of God: for indeed we all ought to be faithful, whatever place or condition or rank we hold, for God requires this of us, that we walk sincerely before him. Indeed, the testimony of faithfulness and integrity in sacred matters is often given to private individuals; but here it is attributed to Samuel in a special way that he was a faithful prophet — namely, that he faithfully discharged the office of prophet. And he is specifically called a prophet of the Lord, to teach all preachers of God's word that they must be instructed in his will, lest they bring anything forward rashly, and that they be made fully certain of it, so that they know it is approved by the Lord as proceeding from himself, and that they may render an account of their faithful administration, and may rightly be able to affirm before all that nothing was fabricated by them, that they did not undertake the matter on their own authority to narrate their own dreams, but that speaking as from the very mouth of God they announced his word.

Next, these things must also be weighed: that nothing of his words fell to the ground, by which the things said above about his faithfulness are confirmed. For these are the marks of a faithful prophet, as Moses teaches, whose words are: When a prophet has predicted something that nevertheless does not come to pass, he is sufficiently convicted of falsehood, and therefore rightly to be put to death, because he has spoken in the name of the Lord falsely. Therefore, since nothing that Samuel had predicted fell to the ground, it easily appears from this how faithful and approved by the Lord he was. And therefore let us know that it is then easy to judge of prophecies, whether they have proceeded from the Lord, when we see them fulfilled. Nor indeed — I confess — is fulfillment always the proper sign of true prophecy, since it has sometimes happened that certain false ones are fulfilled: which appears from another passage of Moses, God indeed permitting this to punish the iniquities of men, because they had not paid sufficient attention to the truth, but being inclined to novelty and prone to falsehood, had made light of the divine word.

But truly, when any prophet faithfully performing his office continues to address all in the name of God, and to denounce punishments in his name, which are all inflicted, who would doubt to call him a true prophet of God, preaching not his own dreams and inventions but the word of God himself? This, therefore, is the meaning of this passage: that God made good whatever had been announced by the mouth of Samuel, so that nothing of it fell to the ground. Furthermore, it sometimes happens that the word of God falls to the ground—sometimes among thorns, sometimes in rocky places, or beside the road, so that it cannot take root—but here the discussion is about prophecies, that is, the denunciation of punishments which God had foretold through Samuel that he would inflict, and which at last came to pass as predicted, so that nothing fell to the ground. But when the word of God is preached, unless we receive it and engrave it in the inner chambers of our hearts, it is void, as though it had fallen to the ground, because it has by no means achieved its effect in us. Nor indeed should we think that the word of God is entirely without effect: rather, a most grave condemnation is drawn upon us by our ingratitude when we hear it perfunctorily. And yet it will then be said to have fallen to the ground by our malice, and to be only a sound passing into the air, whose force we do not perceive, but rendered altogether useless by our malice and rebellion. But there is a different rationale for God's particular threats or promises, whose fulfillment rests with him. So we should understand the revelations made to Samuel, which achieved their effect, as he had threatened. From this let us learn that those who rely on God's promises will never be disappointed in their hope. Why so? Because nothing of what God has promised to do falls to the ground. Therefore, relying on the truth and faithfulness of his promises, let us rest, and let us be firmly persuaded that whatever God has promised us, he will at last fulfill. For the Lord is faithful, and his words are firm and irrevocable. On the other hand, let us fear him when he threatens, and let us attribute the wrath stirred up against us to our own perversity and malice. Nevertheless, let us know that a condition is attached to all his threats: that their chief purpose is repentance, to which God calls us—that is, that having recognized our sins, we may return to a better mind and obtain free grace and forgiveness, which is promised to all who truly grieve and acknowledge their sins. Therefore, whenever sins are forgiven to those who acknowledge them and return to better ways, God's threats may seem to have fallen vainly to the ground, because they have not achieved the effect they threatened. But let us know that whatever effect follows, God is unchangeable; and therefore let us fear lest, if we have turned deaf ears to his threats and are not moved by his warnings, his judgments may at last fall upon the unwilling, grinding their teeth in vain. the judgments of God may fall, and repentance be too late. Therefore let us meditate on this sentence early and seriously: that God's threats never fall to the ground, but always achieve their outcome, and therefore let us be deterred from sins by the fear of punishments. And in turn, let us embrace his promises in such a way that, relying on them, we may stand undaunted against whatever assaults of the devil, the world, and any other power, and let no threats, no torments draw us away from trust in him. On the other hand, whenever we perceive his hand stretched out in punishment, let us tremble entirely and fear that we will experience him as judge unless we return to a better mind.

But a certain difficulty occurs here: for since Samuel is here said to be a faithful prophet of God, and thereafter the word of God is said to have been revealed to him and disclosed to the whole people, at whose command the people seems to have mustered an army and fought a battle against the Philistines, and was finally defeated by those enemies, yet the disaster was not predicted—but on the contrary the people was rather commanded to take up arms against the Philistine enemies—who would not say his prophecy was vain and futile? Who would not suspect the people was deluded and cheered by an empty hope? For so the people seemed to reason rightly: God commands us to go forth with a mustered army into battle against the Philistines; since he commands this, he will surely not permit us to be conquered and come under their power. Moreover, who would ever have suspected such a great disaster would occur? To this difficulty they respond that God wished to take vengeance on the people. Granted: but the knot is not yet untied, since God, having spoken through Samuel, nevertheless did not fulfill what he had commanded to be predicted. We know that in earlier ages God similarly commanded, in the time of the judges, that the remaining Israelite tribes should go forth in battle against the Benjamites, and yet they were twice defeated in battle by them, God exacting punishments from the remaining tribes for past offenses. But indeed Samuel had given the people hope of victory when going to battle against the enemies: yet when they experience the contrary result, who does not see that Samuel's prophecy lacked its effect? And so, to untie this knot, they bring forward many things and torment themselves in various ways. But to explain the whole matter briefly: when Samuel's word is said to have been made to the whole people, these two things are indicated in general: namely, that Samuel performed the office of prophet toward the whole people, not toward Heli alone. Then, that this word was always true: the people, taught by their own peril, recognized that Samuel was faithful to God and called to the office of prophet, and would be useful to the whole church, and the truth of his ministry would appear from its effects.

Next it is said that God continued to appear in Shiloh, the place where the Lord had revealed himself to Samuel. Scripture specifically mentions this place Shiloh so that this dignity, obtained from God, might appear—a place where the people, coming together, would be kept in the simplicity of the law. For above we have seen, and hereafter we shall see, that the ark of the covenant, in which the scroll of the law was contained and which was like a pledge of the divine presence and of his justice, power, virtue, and goodness, resided at Shiloh, and that sacrifices had to be performed there. We have seen moreover that this people indulged their pleasures and, like brute animals, gave free rein to their lusts, and offered sacrifices according to their own will, contrary to the express prohibitions of the law, which specifically stipulated that no one should add anything to the word of God or take anything away from it, and that no one should do what seemed right in his own eyes, but should obey the laws set forth by the Lord. And so the salvation of this people, as far as the law is concerned, seemed hopeless. Therefore the Lord wished a special mark to stand in this place of Shiloh, by which the people, being admonished, would assemble there, and everyone of every rank and age would renounce superstitions and their own desires, and would worship and venerate God according to his statutes, not by any self-devised worship. Nor indeed was this mark of this place perpetual, just as neither was the mark of the temple afterward, lest God seem bound to that place—which hypocrites nevertheless generally persuade themselves of. Just as we see Jeremiah rebuking the ingratitude of the Jewish hypocrites, who boasted of the dignity of the temple and thereby attributed a certain sanctity to themselves. These are the prophet's words: Go to my place in Shiloh, where my name dwelt at the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. As if he said: Come, you despisers, look now at the place of Shiloh, and tremble at my judgments—you, I say, hypocrites, turn your minds to these things, and fear the same destruction for your temple in which you glory. Therefore let us know that God, although he honored Shiloh with such great honor, was not thereby bound to it forever; but wished to keep the people in the observance of true divine worship. Moreover, that Samuel is said to have continued is to be noted so that we would know there was not just one or two prophecies of Samuel concerning what would befall either Heli or the people, but that God used his ministry in the church so that he would be its perpetual teacher. For sometimes God gave the gift of prophecy to certain individuals, but only for a single act, who were nevertheless not prophets on that account. But when he established prophets in the church, he confirmed their vocation, so that they would continually teach the people and recall the heavenly commands and doctrine of God to their memory, and keep them in God's obedience—or if not, make them inexcusable. This vocation God approved and confirmed with ever-new testimonies, in order to win greater and greater authority for their teaching. those whom he wished to be heard not for a time but in perpetuity. And how are those to be distinguished whose service God used once for a single act, yet who were not endowed with the gift of prophecy in the church, from those whose task of teaching in the church was perpetual, and whose authority ought to be the greatest among all for all time? Such, then, is the Samuel described to us here, so that we may know God wished his ministry to be lasting. From this it is clear that no persons are endowed with virtues and gifts necessary for the building up of the church unless they flow down upon them from heaven by the Lord, and indeed they receive their confirmation day by day—just as we have already taught, that no mortals are distinguished by any virtues or excellent gifts unless they owe them to God, because they proceed not from nature but from the supernatural grace of God. The same, therefore, is taught to us in this passage about the gift of prophecy, which pertains to the salvation of the whole people. Indeed this must be added: that however distinguished, excellent, and faithful an interpreter of the Scriptures may be, he is nevertheless worthless and will fail in a moment unless the gift of understanding is confirmed to him by divine power, as the apostle Peter says. And these things must be applied to ourselves and turned to our use, so that we may believe and hold fast to those things which are set before us by Scripture, even though we are not instructed by continually new prophecies and revelations such as occurred under the law. Nor indeed do I think that God does not reveal himself to us today, but I say the manner of revelation is different from what it once was; and therefore this is required of pastors and all preachers of God's word: that they conform themselves to the purity of sound doctrine and persevere in it, and obtain from God through prayers that, just as he has called them to the testimony of truth, so he may daily supply sufficient strength for so great a burden, and increase it day by day. For otherwise there is danger that, if they trust their own powers, they may be driven into such straits by even the most foolish and most ignorant person that they become utterly mute and stupefied, unless they are sustained and strengthened by divine power. Therefore we must flee to God, so that we may know him as the author of all good, and that he may not desert those whom he has laden with his gifts, but may confirm and increase those same gifts in us. But you, brothers, do not consider these things so peculiar to pastors that they do not also pertain to all, whatever their condition may be. For whatever craft anyone undertakes to practice, he must always have recourse to God, since it is certain that he cannot be fit for it except by his aid and favor alone, from whom, as the apostle well reminds us, is all our sufficiency. Therefore he must govern us, and to his prior grace continually add new grace, and indeed lead us by the hand, and by the reality itself testify to his presence among us. Finally, we will be blessed if we walk before him with such fear that we ascribe all that is ours to him, and hold fast this principle: that no virtue, wisdom, or other grace can come to us unless it has been given from heaven, as the Lord himself says. From all this it is also evident that no one may arrogate to himself the authority of preaching the divine word unless he has been sent. Therefore Paul complains about many who preach the gospel but lack a calling, and therefore do not proceed with that simplicity which befits faithful ministers of God; and he teaches that men are by nature inclined to falsehood and vanity, unless God himself applies his healing hand. Therefore let us know that churches suffering from a shortage of pastors must have recourse to God himself, the Lord of his harvest, and that he will supply fit ministers for that work.

Finally, the concluding words must be considered, in which the Lord is said to have been revealed to Samuel in Shiloh, according to the word of the Lord. This manner of speaking is unusual to our ears, but by it Samuel's calling is described more expressly, inasmuch as he did nothing except by divine revelation. Behold, then, how the Lord was revealed to Samuel—namely, through the word. By this we are taught that we must rest content with the word of God, because through it the Lord calls us to himself, and it is a sufficiently intimate testimony of his presence. Indeed, I freely acknowledge that in those times visions were added to the word, but they were merely like accidentals, of which the word of the Lord itself was the substance.

Therefore, although such visions do not flourish today as they once did under the law, we must nevertheless hold that nothing is lacking to us of those things necessary for salvation. And so whenever the word of the Lord is purely and soundly announced to us, we can truly rejoice in his presence and acknowledge that our condition is no worse than that of the ancients. And therefore, although he does not present himself visibly to our external senses, as he once did, let us nevertheless know that he is not far from us but most present, as he testifies by his word. Let us therefore value the doctrine preached in his name so highly that in it, as in a mirror, we may contemplate his face. If the ancients are said to have beheld that face, this applies far more to the evangelical doctrine, in which, as Paul teaches, we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. Nor indeed was this grace common to all then, as it is not today, to behold the Lord in those visible signs, lest many, adhering too much to superstitions and to those perishable things, should become entangled—as is the nature of men, inclined to idolatry. Therefore we must behold God revealing himself to us in his word and in the exposition of the law. Finally, let us know that God reveals himself to us as far as is expedient, and reveals his face in the word.

18. So Samuel told him all the words, and hid nothing from him. And he answered: He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes. 19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and none of all his words fell to the ground. 20. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. 21. And the Lord continued to appear in Shiloh, because the Lord had been revealed to Samuel in Shiloh, according to the word of the Lord.

We have heard the sentence pronounced against the house of Eli, of which Samuel — still a boy — was appointed by the Lord as witness and herald, to announce it to Eli himself, now a man of very advanced age, under whose instruction Samuel had been raised and educated. From this it might seem that Eli was given no small occasion for resentment — as if he were suffering a notable humiliation from God, being judged by a youth. For Eli was already of advanced age and the high priest; and we are all too familiar with how indignantly people bear being rebuked by those they consider their inferiors. But on the contrary — with what calm and peaceful composure he accepts both the condemnation and the announcement of punishment against himself and his whole family! A worthy example for imitation: from this let us learn to humble ourselves under God's mighty hand, and if ever God, to our greater humbling, uses young people or persons of the lowest rank to convict us of our sins, let us fall completely silent. And since the correction flows from the Lord, let us not inquire into the age or standing of the one He uses, but look to God Himself, who has chosen to use their service — and know that our obedience is being tested by Him in this way. Furthermore, the following words deserve the highest attention, when Eli says: He is the Lord; let Him do what is good in His eyes. By these words we are taught that we must never quarrel with God in words or answer back to Him in any way, but rather yield to His goodness, truth, power, justice, and righteousness. Even if no reason for God's judgments is apparent to us, and we even feel we are being treated unjustly — the righteousness of His judgments must still be adored. For if people gave themselves free rein in this area, they would never stop quarreling and contending with God, especially when He deals with them contrary to their own wishes. From this a general rule must be drawn: since God is Lord of all things, He has absolute sovereign power to do whatever He pleases — and the supreme majesty attributed to Him must be reverenced and adored by all, who must calmly submit themselves to it. Therefore when it comes to the governance of divine justice, all human judgment is set aside, and the knowledge and administration of all things is attributed to God alone — so that if at any point we find ourselves wanting to do something without God's knowledge or against His will, we ought to stop right there, because God's will is contrary. In short, from this we must observe that a person should dare and undertake nothing contrary to or beyond God's will. Rather, He should be worshipped with such reverence that we learn to deny ourselves and not to be wise in our own eyes — not setting our vain opinions against His judgments, but imposing silence on our own reasoning. Our votes have no place here — this is God's domain alone, and we must rest in His judgment alone, lest we oppose Him. Therefore when we say that the Lord has done something, all human reasoning ceases — no further place remains for dispute or human judgment about whether things might be better or more just if they had happened differently. Let us know that human reason is blind when it tries to pronounce judgment on the righteousness of God's judgments — but let us ask that it be sharpened instead for the purpose of admiring those judgments and drawing benefit from them, when God upholds the truth of His Word and punishes those who despise it. So Paul teaches us that if we have been disciplined, we should not murmur, but rather look inward and examine ourselves — condemning and hating our sins. Let supreme authority therefore be conceded to God, and let our own reasoning fall silent. For who would dare contend with the Lord? Who would presume to question His judgments? Is it not a detestable blasphemy when a wretched little person wants to measure God's judgments by his own standard and scrutinize His works? But what else, I ask, do people do every day — contending against God in various ways and never calmly resting in His judgments? How few are not driven to this by their curiosity and malice? Every effort must therefore be made that whatever judgments God exercises — even when they do not correspond to the measure of our understanding — we still do not rise up against Him or question them. And all the greater care must be applied here because we are by nature most inclined to this fault — so that, mindful of this saying: 'Let the Lord do what is good in His eyes,' we may commit ourselves entirely to God, and since we are blind by nature, allow ourselves to be governed and led by Him; and adoring His judgments, let us cry out with the prophet: 'How good and right are Your judgments, O Lord!'

That reasoning — 'He is the Lord, He is eternal' — carries the same force as if Eli were teaching that the Lord is not to be placed in the rank of earthly judges, whose judgments are often crooked, tilting one way or another out of favoritism. Judges are often corrupted by gifts or by personal connections, inclining to one side or the other — so it is not surprising that people search for all manner of reasons to cover the injustice being done to those whom favor has bypassed. But far be it from us to make God like these. Since He is eternal, it is certain that nothing can be governed and administered by Him except with the highest integrity, equity, perfection, and wisdom — His will alone never contradicting itself, always just and unchanging, and therefore most fitting that we submit ourselves to it. Even though a real virtue appeared in Eli — that he calmly submitted himself to the Lord and fully acquiesced in the condemnation announced by a youth — he was nonetheless not affected by it as he should have been. For he ought to have called his sons back to repentance and a better life from their shameful and wicked living — or at least made every effort toward that end. But we see this was never done by him. This must therefore be observed: that even though Eli was in part governed by the Spirit of God — since he showed himself teachable and not at all resistant to receiving the certainly unwelcome news of the future death of his sons, the capture of the ark of the covenant, and the transfer of the priesthood from his family in lasting disgrace — even though that modesty in him was praiseworthy, he nonetheless did not fully discharge his duty. For it is certain that even wicked and incorrigible people are accustomed to break out in these same kinds of words. Just as Paul himself shows that enemies of divine predestination and wicked men speak thus — and like dogs barking at divine providence, biting and gnashing their teeth, they break out into these words: 'He is the Lord, let Him do what He wills; who shall resist His will?' But this was not Eli's spirit — we observe in his pronouncing these words a genuine modesty and reverence for God's majesty, even though he did not fully do his duty in this matter. Therefore every effort must be given not only to giving God glory with our mouths for His wisdom, justice, and righteousness, but also, whenever He spurs us to repentance, to examining our lives more honestly — so that we may groan before God over our sins and detest and flee from our vices with our whole heart. We see David went even further, as is clear from 2 Samuel 15. For when he was driven from his kingdom by his own son Absalom — which was far graver for him than being cast out of the world entirely — and he saw his son conspiring against him and stirring up the whole people, he walked with his head uncovered, and like a defendant seemed to seek a place to hide from disgrace and death. Indeed when he saw the ark of the covenant being moved from its place and carried around on his account, he ordered it returned to its place, saying: 'If I find favor before the Lord, He will show it to me when I return to His tabernacle. But if He says: You do not please Me — behold, here I am; let Him determine whatever pleases Him concerning me.' These words of David are very different from Eli's. For Eli, as if thunderstruck and despairing of any remedy, stood dumbfounded — as if thinking to himself: 'What will I gain by complaining to God and contending with Him? It is better for one who is defeated to lie low with a bowed head and patiently endure what has been decreed.' But David prepared himself for every outcome and showed in practice that he was ready to follow God wherever He might lead. On the one hand he hoped to be restored by God and returned to his former dignity and royal throne; on the other hand he prepared himself for graver circumstances — and even if expelled and rejected from the kingdom, he showed himself obedient and submissive to God, not attributing to Him some abstract absolute power as the wicked do, but acknowledging Him as his God, and as always just. Moreover, when David says 'If the Lord rejects me,' we must be careful not to understand that rejection as referring to eternal life — as if he feared being deleted from the book of life. For the hope is fixed more deeply in his soul that he, once adopted as a member of the church by God, would never be cast out of it, but would find God to be his Savior. Rather, he so yields the temporal kingdom that he asks to be disciplined by God in such a way that the discipline may be useful and fruitful for him. From this then let us learn that whatever disciplines God may send, they proceed from His hand in such a way that we are not to answer back or contend with Him. And when His judgments seem new and unusual to us, and we think we could rightly object to them, let us nonetheless stand still with closed mouth — acknowledging the weakness of our nature and the feebleness of human judgment, and calmly resting in them. And therefore if passions boil up within us and carry us beyond the bounds of reason, let us restrain and check them, and measuring ourselves against God's majesty, let us ask ourselves: 'Do you, a wretched little person, really dare to contend against God, to resist His power, to struggle against His incomprehensible majesty?' Therefore God's power must be acknowledged not merely to the extent that we confess no one can resist Him and say we must patiently await whatever seems good to Him — but so that the Lord's disciplines may be fruitful as a father's disciplines are — and therefore so that we may fear Him as judge yet never doubt His fatherly goodness toward us. Above all, our curiosity and arrogance must be bridled so that we do not measure God's judgments by our own understanding — but rather adore His immense and infinite wisdom, look up in wonder at His inscrutable judgments, and with eyes closed, as it were, follow Him wherever He may finally lead.

And so much for that. Meanwhile, Samuel is said to have grown, and the Lord to have been with him — from which we learn that whatever honest and good thing comes to people is a gift of God, not flowing from nature itself. Indeed, whatever gifts we have by nature are also to be credited to God, because they flow from the fountain of all good things. The very fact that God formed us as human beings is His singular gift — He could have ordered us to be brute animals. Therefore whoever is endowed with a sharp intellect, quickness of mind, or some other gift — for the Lord's gifts are various and He distributes them as He sees fit — ought to give God thanks for them, since to fail to do so would be to be ungrateful toward God and to rob Him of the praise He deserves. But this passage contains something specific — we are taught here not only to acknowledge God's generosity toward us in the gifts we received at birth, but also that the continuation of His gifts is necessary, and that whatever is excellent and praiseworthy in us flows from His kindness and His pleasure in revealing Himself to us. And this is the meaning of the words: that God was with Samuel. For hereafter we shall see how great was his integrity, how great his zeal in promoting God's glory, how great his piety, how great his care and diligence in administering justice and governing the people, and what a distinguished prophet he was. And so, that we may know that God desires to be held and acknowledged as the author of all good things — and cannot bear people attributing and claiming these things for themselves — these words are placed before the rest as a kind of preface. Let us therefore acknowledge that God, in bestowing His gifts, does not want them buried by us or His glory obscured by our ingratitude, but rather proclaimed and celebrated with the highest praise — so that with the apostle Paul we may say: 'What do you have that you did not receive? And if you received it, why do you boast?' Moreover, this teaching must be impressed more deeply upon our minds, so that whatever virtues shine forth in us, we may acknowledge them as coming from the singular generosity of God — not only so that we may be stirred to give Him proper praise and glory, but also so that we may run to this fountain to supply our deficiencies and poverty: because He is the Father of lights, and every good gift comes from Him, as James reminds us and urges us to flee to Him. Therefore, let us hold firmly — as all of Scripture proclaims — that whatever is excellent can be drawn from no other source than the sheer generosity of God.

Next, all Israel from Dan to Beersheba — that is, the entire people, for Scripture often describes all twelve tribes by these boundary markers — is said to have recognized that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. Samuel is specifically called a faithful prophet of God — for indeed all of us, in whatever position or rank we hold, ought to be faithful, since God requires us to walk sincerely before Him. The testimony of faithfulness and integrity is often given to private individuals in Scripture; but here it is attributed to Samuel in a special way — as a faithful prophet — meaning that he faithfully discharged the office of a prophet. He is specifically called a prophet of the Lord, to teach all who preach God's Word that they must be instructed in His will, lest they bring forward anything rashly — and that they must be fully certain of what they proclaim, knowing it is approved by the Lord as proceeding from Himself, so that they can render an account of their faithful stewardship and rightly affirm before all that nothing was fabricated by them, that they did not act on their own authority to narrate their own dreams, but that — speaking as from the very mouth of God — they announced His Word.

The next words must also be carefully weighed: that none of his words fell to the ground — which confirms what was said above about his faithfulness. For these are the marks of a faithful prophet, as Moses teaches: when a prophet has predicted something that nevertheless does not come to pass, he is thereby convicted of falsehood and is rightly to be put to death, because he spoke falsely in the name of the Lord. Therefore, since nothing that Samuel predicted fell to the ground, it is evident from this how faithful and approved by the Lord he was. Let us therefore know that it becomes easy to judge whether prophecies have proceeded from the Lord when we see them fulfilled. And yet — I confess — fulfillment is not always the definitive sign of true prophecy, since it has sometimes happened that certain false prophecies are also fulfilled — a fact that is clear from another passage of Moses. God permits this to punish the iniquities of people who had not paid adequate attention to the truth, but being inclined to novelty and prone to falsehood, had made light of God's Word.

But truly, when any prophet faithfully performing his office continues to address all people in God's name and to announce punishments in His name — all of which are then inflicted — who would doubt to call him a true prophet of God, preaching not his own dreams and inventions but God's own Word? This then is the meaning of this passage: that God made good everything announced through Samuel's mouth, so that nothing of it fell to the ground. It does sometimes happen that God's Word falls to the ground — sometimes among thorns, sometimes on rocky places, or beside the road, so that it cannot take root. But here the discussion is about prophecies — specifically the announcement of punishments that God had foretold through Samuel that He would inflict — and these at last came to pass exactly as predicted, so that nothing fell to the ground. But when God's Word is preached to us, unless we receive it and engrave it in the inner chambers of our hearts, it is void — as if it had fallen to the ground — because it has by no means achieved its effect in us. Nor should we think that God's Word is entirely without effect when this happens: rather, a very serious condemnation is drawn upon us by our ingratitude when we hear it carelessly. It will then be said to have fallen to the ground through our malice — to be only a sound passing into the air whose force we do not perceive, rendered utterly useless by our rebellion. But there is a different principle at work in God's specific threats and promises, whose fulfillment rests with Him. So we should understand the revelations made to Samuel, which achieved their effect exactly as he had threatened. From this let us learn that those who rely on God's promises will never be disappointed in their hope. Why? Because nothing of what God has promised to do falls to the ground. Therefore, relying on the truth and faithfulness of His promises, let us rest — and let us be firmly persuaded that whatever God has promised us, He will at last fulfill. For the Lord is faithful, and His words are firm and irrevocable. On the other hand, let us fear Him when He threatens, and let us attribute the wrath stirred up against us to our own stubbornness and malice. Nevertheless, let us know that a condition is attached to all His threats — their chief purpose is repentance, to which God calls us: that having recognized our sins, we may return to a better mind and receive the free grace and forgiveness promised to all who truly grieve and acknowledge their sins. Therefore, whenever sins are forgiven to those who acknowledge them and turn to better ways, God's threats may seem to have fallen vainly to the ground, since they did not achieve the punishment they warned of. But let us know that whatever outcome follows, God is unchangeable — and let us therefore fear lest, if we turn deaf ears to His warnings and are not moved by His threats, His judgments may at last fall upon the unwilling as they gnash their teeth in vain. Let us therefore meditate early and seriously on this truth: that God's threats never fall to the ground but always achieve their outcome — and let us be deterred from sins by the fear of punishment. And in turn, let us embrace His promises in such a way that, relying on them, we may stand undaunted against whatever assaults of the devil, the world, and any other power — and let no threats, no torments draw us away from trust in Him. On the other hand, whenever we perceive His hand stretched out in punishment, let us tremble entirely and fear that we will experience Him as judge unless we return to a better mind.

A certain difficulty arises here: since Samuel is said to be a faithful prophet of God, and thereafter God's Word is said to have been revealed to him and disclosed to the whole people — at whose direction the people mustered an army and fought a battle against the Philistines and was finally defeated by those enemies — yet this disaster was not predicted. On the contrary, the people seemed to have been directed to take up arms against the Philistine enemies — who then would not say that his prophecy was vain and futile? Who would not suspect the people had been deluded and encouraged by an empty hope? For the people might have reasonably concluded: God commands us to go forth with an army against the Philistines; since He commands it, He will surely not allow us to be conquered and come under their power. And who would ever have suspected such a great disaster would occur? In response to this difficulty, some say that God wished to take vengeance on the people. Granted — but the knot is still not untied, since God, having spoken through Samuel, nonetheless did not fulfill what He had commanded to be predicted. We know that in an earlier age, in the time of the judges, God similarly commanded the remaining Israelite tribes to go out in battle against the Benjamites — and yet they were twice defeated, God exacting punishment from those tribes for past offenses. But Samuel had given the people hope of victory when going out against their enemies — and when they experienced the opposite result, who does not see that Samuel's prophecy seemed to lack its effect? And so, in trying to untie this knot, many things are brought forward and people torment themselves with various explanations. But to explain the whole matter briefly: when it is said that Samuel's word was made to the whole people, two things are generally being indicated: first, that Samuel performed the office of prophet toward the whole people, not toward Eli alone. Second, that this word was always true — the people, taught by their own painful experience, recognized that Samuel was faithful to God and called to the office of prophet, and that he would be useful to the whole church, and that the truth of his ministry would appear from its effects.

Next it is said that God continued to appear in Shiloh — the place where the Lord had revealed Himself to Samuel. Scripture specifically mentions this place Shiloh so that the dignity God granted it might be apparent — it was the place where the people, coming together, were to be kept in the simplicity of the law. For above we have seen, and will see hereafter, that the ark of the covenant, in which the scroll of the law was contained and which served as a pledge of God's presence, justice, power, and goodness, resided at Shiloh, and that sacrifices had to be performed there. We have also seen that this people indulged their desires and, like brute animals, gave free rein to their lusts — offering sacrifices according to their own will, contrary to the express prohibitions of the law, which specifically stated that no one should add anything to God's Word or take anything away from it, and that no one should do what seemed right in his own eyes, but should obey the laws given by the Lord. And so the salvation of this people, as far as the law was concerned, seemed hopeless. The Lord therefore wished to mark this place of Shiloh in a special way — so that the people, being reminded, would assemble there, and everyone of every rank and age would renounce superstitions and their own desires, and would worship and revere God according to His statutes, not by any worship they had invented themselves. Nor was this mark of the place permanent — just as neither was the mark of the temple afterward — lest God seem bound to that place, which hypocrites generally persuade themselves of. We see Jeremiah rebuking the ingratitude of the Jewish hypocrites who boasted of the dignity of the temple and thereby attributed a certain holiness to themselves. These are the prophet's words: 'Go to My place in Shiloh, where My name dwelt at the beginning, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel.' As if to say: Come, you despisers, look now at what Shiloh became, and tremble at My judgments — you hypocrites, turn your minds to this, and fear the same destruction for your temple in which you glory. Therefore let us know that God, though He honored Shiloh with such great honor, was not thereby bound to it forever — His purpose was to keep the people in the observance of true divine worship. Furthermore, that Samuel is said to have continued in his ministry must also be noted — so we would know there was not just one or two prophecies of Samuel concerning Eli or the people, but that God used his ministry in the church as a perpetual teaching. For sometimes God gave the gift of prophecy to certain individuals only once and for a single act, without making them permanent prophets. But when He established prophets in the church, He confirmed their calling — so that they would continually teach the people, bring the heavenly commands and doctrine of God back to their memory, and keep them in God's obedience — or if not, make them without excuse. This calling God approved and confirmed with ever-new testimonies, in order to win ever greater authority for their teaching — those whom He wished to be heard not for a season but in perpetuity. And how are those to be distinguished whose service God used once for a single act — yet who were not endowed with the gift of prophecy in the church — from those whose task of teaching in the church was permanent, and whose authority should be the greatest among all for all time? Such is the Samuel described to us here — so that we may know God intended his ministry to be lasting. From this it is clear that no people are endowed with the gifts necessary for the building up of the church unless those gifts flow down upon them from heaven by the Lord, confirmed day by day — just as we have already taught, that no mortals are distinguished by any virtue or excellent gift unless they owe it to God, because it proceeds not from nature but from the supernatural grace of God. The same thing is taught here about the gift of prophecy, which pertains to the salvation of the whole people. This must also be added: however distinguished, excellent, and faithful an interpreter of Scripture may be, he is worthless and will fail in a moment unless the gift of understanding is confirmed to him by divine power, as the apostle Peter says. And these things must be applied to ourselves and turned to practical use, so that we believe and hold fast to what Scripture sets before us — even though we are not instructed by continually new prophecies and revelations as occurred under the law. Nor do I think God does not reveal Himself to us today — but I say the manner of revelation is different from what it once was. Therefore this is required of pastors and all who preach God's Word: that they conform themselves to the purity of sound doctrine and persevere in it, and obtain from God through prayer that — just as He has called them to bear witness to the truth — He may daily supply sufficient strength for so great a burden and increase it day by day. For otherwise there is a danger that if they trust their own abilities, they may be reduced to utter silence and confusion by even the most simple and ignorant person, unless they are sustained and strengthened by divine power. We must therefore flee to God, so that we may know Him as the author of all good and that He may not desert those whom He has laden with His gifts, but may confirm and increase those same gifts in us. But you, brothers, should not consider these things so peculiar to pastors that they do not also apply to everyone, whatever their condition may be. For whatever work anyone undertakes, he must always have recourse to God — since it is certain that he cannot be fit for it except by God's aid and favor alone, from whom, as the apostle well reminds us, is all our sufficiency. He must govern us, and to His prior grace continually add new grace, lead us by the hand, and by the reality itself testify to His presence among us. Finally, we will be blessed if we walk before Him with such fear that we ascribe all that is ours to Him, and hold fast to this principle: that no virtue, wisdom, or other grace can come to us unless it has been given from heaven, as the Lord Himself says. From all this it is also clear that no one may claim for himself the authority to preach God's Word unless he has been sent. Therefore Paul complains about many who preach the gospel but lack a genuine calling, and therefore do not proceed with the simplicity that befits faithful ministers of God — and he teaches that people are by nature inclined to falsehood and vanity, unless God Himself applies His healing hand. Let us therefore know that churches suffering from a shortage of pastors must have recourse to God Himself, the Lord of the harvest, and that He will supply fit ministers for that work.

Finally, the concluding words must be considered, in which the Lord is said to have been revealed to Samuel in Shiloh, according to the Word of the Lord. This manner of speaking is unusual to our ears, but it describes Samuel's calling more fully — inasmuch as he did nothing except by divine revelation. See, then, how the Lord was revealed to Samuel — namely, through the Word. By this we are taught that we must rest content with God's Word, because through it the Lord calls us to Himself, and it is a sufficiently intimate testimony of His presence. I freely acknowledge that in those times visions were added to the Word — but they were merely like accessories, of which the Word of the Lord itself was the substance.

Therefore, although such visions no longer appear as they once did under the law, we must nonetheless hold that nothing necessary for salvation is lacking to us. And so whenever the Word of the Lord is purely and soundly proclaimed to us, we can truly rejoice in His presence and acknowledge that our condition is no worse than that of the ancients. Therefore, although God does not present Himself visibly to our physical senses as He once did, let us know that He is not far from us but most present — as He testifies in His Word. Let us therefore value the doctrine preached in His name so highly that in it, as in a mirror, we may contemplate His face. If the ancients are said to have beheld that face, this applies far more to the evangelical doctrine — in which, as Paul teaches, we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the Lord as in a mirror. Nor was this grace common to everyone even then, as it is not to everyone today — to behold the Lord in visible signs — lest many, clinging too strongly to outward and perishable things, should become entangled, as is the tendency of people who are inclined toward idolatry. We must therefore behold God revealing Himself to us in His Word and in the exposition of the law. Finally, let us know that God reveals Himself to us as far as is beneficial, and reveals His face in the Word.