Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomim:
I Samuel 2:11 “And the child ministered unto the Lord before Eli the priest.”
This is an odd sort of verse. We have a child ministering to God. Most translators and commentators will say that this is simply saying that the young Samuel would light candles, open and close doors and polish the sacred objects in the temple. In others words he was serving God as sort of a caretaker.
Perhaps that is true, but I do question the form of the word “ministering.” This is found as a participle in a piel form. It has the preposition “mem” or “from” in front of it and it comes from the root word “sharat.” This word, especially when used in a piel form, means more than just perform a service. It is also a form of worship. More specifically, it is a word that would be used for a caregiver. Working as a C N A, I perform tasks for an individual that they can not perform themselves. This could involve helping them to dress, bathe, or eat. We could say that I minister to their needs.
You can see how awkward it is to use this word “sharat” in relation to a child performing a service to God or doing something for God that He is unable to do for Himself. What is it that God is incapable of doing that He needs a child to perform this service.
Some commentators have suggested that Samuel was playing a musical instrument and singing songs of praises to God. I think this is getting more to the point.
Imagine for a moment that you are Samuel, a small child and you have been brought to live in the very temple of God. You are a Levite, a member of the priestly tribe and thus you are allowed into the holy places of the temple. Although you are not allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, a day does not pass that you do not see this very dwelling place of the God of the universe and a day does not pass that you do not stand in awe of being in the presence of this God. Before this awesome God you sing praises and play a musical instrument all day long. Is it any wonder that this child, from an early age, falls in love with this God? He does what God can not do for Himself, this boy Samuel loves Him and every day expresses that love.
The other day I visited my father in the nursing home. He has dementia and he usually does not even recognize me. This day I took him down to the first floor where they have a grand piano and for a half an hour I played some of the old gospel songs and hymns that I know he loves. As I played these songs, I began to feel something. Others passing by would pause to listen, there was something in the air. Some would call it an anointing, or the presence of God. However, what I felt was God’s pleasure. Sure, I was playing this music for my father, but I gradually became aware of the fact that I was also playing it for my Heavenly Father and I was feeling His pleasure.
I was doing something for God that He could not do for Himself. I was bringing Him pleasure, I was perform a “sharat” in the piel form. Samuel also ministered to God in whatever function he performed in the temple. Samuel did it before Eli the priest, just as I performed before my father. However, eventually it became evident that Samuel was ministering to God and not Eli. Just as I started to minister to my father, I began to realize I was ministering to God. My father began to express a sense of joy in the Lord as I played. He too was feeling God’s pleasure. It ended up that as I ministered to God, God ministered to my father.
Eli must have began to feel this joy or pleasure of God. As Samuel ministered to Eli he must have become aware of the fact that he was really ministering to God and God in turn was expressing His pleasure and thus ministering to Eli. Eli and his sons had fallen far from God and perhaps the music of a young child ministering to God brought back the experience of feeling God’s pleasure to Eli. This may be why Eli recognized God was speaking to Samuel before Samuel even realized it.
A reporter once asked Mother Theresa how it was that she was able to minister to the poorest of the poor. To minister to those who lay in the street, dying in their own filth. She responded by saying: “In every face, I see the Jesus that I love.”
Perhaps as I perform my service to my clients and minister to their needs, I can see the Jesus that I love in each face and thus I am ministering to God and in response I will feel His pleasure and my clients will also feel God’s pleasure and God will minister to them.
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