On the name "Samuel Raymond"

I (Mark) decided to write today’s blog. We had a nice day relaxing at home. The pastor and a few members of our church came for a visit in the afternoon. Little Samuel is doing what healthy newborns do: sleep, nurse, and fill his diapers. He is beginning to open his eyes more now. Rachel is healing well, and has a surprising amount of energy for having given birth just two days ago. We praise the Lord for an easy, safe delivery… this had been our prayer for many weeks in anticipation of Samuel's birth.

I wanted to share briefly why we chose the name Samuel Raymond. The name Raymond (Samuel’s middle name) is the first name of my father. We had chosen it months ago. We wanted a middle name from my side of the family. (Abraham’s middle name, Frank, is the name of one of Rachel’s uncles.) There are so many character traits we appreciate about my father… caring, generous, hard-working, conscientious, and thoughtful are a few that come to mind. We are honored that our second son bears his name.

The name Samuel is, of course, from the Bible. There are several things that strike me about the birth and early life of Samuel, as recorded for us in the book of 1 Samuel. Samuel sounds like the Hebrew for ‘heard of God’, and he received that name because God heard the prayer of childless Hannah, who in anguish poured out her heart to the Lord. She told the Lord that if He gave her a son, “then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11). That is also our desire and prayer as the parents of Samuel Raymond, that he be given to the Lord for all the days of his life.

So it was that when the Samuel of the Bible was weaned, his mother brought him to the house of God at Shiloh, there to leave him with Eli the priest. We read that, in contrast to Eli’s sons, who were “wicked men” and who “had no regard for the LORD”, the boy Samuel “ministered before the LORD (2:11, 18) and he “grew up in the presence of the LORD” (2:21). The account is summarized as follows: “And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men” (2:26). So too our desire and prayer for Samuel Raymond is that he will grow up in the presence of the Lord, to minister before Him, and to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.

Finally, there is the memorable story of how Samuel came to recognize the voice of God. Three times in the night the boy Samuel heard a voice calling “Samuel! Samuel!” Three times Samuel got up and went to Eli, supposing that Eli had called for him. The third time, Eli finally realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So he instructed Samuel as follows: when Samuel heard the call again, he was to say: “Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening” (a fitting prayer for us too!). The Lord did speak to Samuel that night, and on many other occasions. We learn that “The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and He let none of his [Samuel’s] words fall to the ground” (3:19). We pray that Samuel Raymond will also learn to hear and recognize God’s voice, and as he hears, he will also speak into the lives of others.