* opened.
  1:9  Mal 1:10 
 * Samuel.
   Samuel reverenced Eli as a father, and feared to distress him
   by shewing what God had purposed to do.  It does not appear
   that God commanded Samuel to deliver this message; he
   therefore did not attempt it till adjured by Eli.  It might be
   supposed that Samuel would have been so full of ecstasy as to
   have forgotten his ordinary service, and run amongst his
   friends to tell them of the converse he had with God in the
   night:  but he modestly keeps it to himself.  Our secret
   communion with God is not to be proclaimed on the house-top.

 * feared.
  Jer 1:6-8  1Co 16:10,11