None Of His Words Fall To The Ground
19 “So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of the Lord. 21 Then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh. For the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” 1 Samuel 3:19-21 NKJV
This is at the end of the chapter where previously we learned of Samuel as the little boy hearing the voice of God when he was serving in the Temple with Eli. He heard the voice of God so clearly that he thought it was Eli. Now we see young adult Samuel and he clearly hears continually from God. Verse 19 says that God let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. That means not one of the things Samuel spoke failed. If he spoke it, it came to pass. That does not mean that every idle word Samuel spoke, God acted upon. It means that Samuel was so in tune with God that he continually heard God just as clearly as he did a boy in the Temple, an audible voice of God. Since Samuel heard God that clearly, Samuel spoke the words of God and as He spoke the words of God, God could move through those words to bring them to pass.
Samuel was recognized by all of Israel as being a prophet of God, and all of Israel had witnessed that when Samuel speaks, what he speaks comes to pass. Then in verse 21, it says that the Lord appeared and revealed Himself to Samuel by the Word of the Lord. That is really helpful for our consideration. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He speaks to us through His Word, and so when we read the Bible we should expect to receive supernatural insight and revelation from the Holy Spirit as we read. God “reveals” Himself to us through the Word.
Both of these verses (19 and 21) remind us that there is power in the tongue and it is so important for us to speak the Word. When we speak His Word, when we speak the promises of the Bible out loud in faith, He moves through those words spoken, His Words spoken by us, and not one of those words falls to the ground or fails to come to pass. If it was true for Samuel it is even more so for us today with the power and moving of the Holy Spirit.
Finally, consider exactly what is being said in that last verse. The Lord reveals Himself through the Word and He “appears” through our speaking the Word. Again, when we speak His Word in faith He appears. In other words, the kingdom of heaven, the spiritual realm realities appear and take the place of the physical realities. He appears when we speak the Word! When we speak the Word we see evidence of the supernatural change. It is the evidence of Him appearing in our lives, actively involved in powerful ways in our lives as we speak His Word in faith. It is a reminder to us to think about what we are speaking and to have the Word of God ever present on our tongues, ready to speak in our lives and over the lives of others.
J Todd Hostetler