God Calls Samuel

In 1 Samuel 3, the boy Samuel hears his name being called during his nightly task of tending the lamp in the temple at Shiloh. Samuel thinks he is being summoned by his guardian, Eli, the high priest of the temple, and answers ‘Here I am!’. Eli tells Samuel that this is God’s voice and to respond with the words, ‘Speak, for your servant hears’, whereupon God speaks to Samuel and promises to destroy the house of Eli because his wicked sons had blasphemed, and Eli failed to restrain them. This setting takes the viewpoint of the boy Samuel, who is traumatised by this nightmarish prophecy to the extent that he is afraid to tell Eli about it in the morning.