When boiled down to an individual, some of those voices hurt or heal; curse or bless; some agitate, some soothe. The list could go on but you can, no doubt, get the gist.
There is one voice, above all others, that has accomplished amazing things; that of the voice of our LORD. Genesis chapter 1 notates that when God spoke, the world: heaven, earth, the sea, and all that in them are, came into being. Look at this,
"God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light. God saw that the light was good." (Genesis 1:3. 4 NIV).
He spoke, and it was.
God's voice could be heard again and again.
"'Let there be...and it was so'...and God saw that it was good" (continue reading Genesis 1).
Eight times His voice uttered the aspects of the world into being.
Truly very good, astonishing and breathtaking. We stand in awe of our God, The Creator.
Since then God's voice has been heard all down throughout the ages. The Psalmist records the effects of the voice of the LORD. Flip your Bible open at Psalm 29. There David delineates some of that history as well.
Psalm 29:3 (ESV) reads,
"The LORD's voice was heard over the water showing forth the power of God's glory."
David said the voice, "thunders".
If you've ever gone to a waterfall, especially after a torrential downpour of rain, you hear that the waters definitely thunder. For an even greater thundering of waters, go to Ontario, Canada and visit Niagara Falls! There the waters thunder to its heart's content. There people gather in multitudes in rapt wonder. Did they know they are hearing the LORD's voice and seeing His glory?
In the next verse, Psalm 29:4, David goes on to write that the
"...voice of the LORD is powerful...and full of majesty".
Certainly, the Niagara Falls waterfall is an indomitable force to reckon with. Scores of people have tried to defy that power by going over the precipice in a barrel or otherwise. Not many of those few survived.
The LORD's voice is infinitely more unconfined power. Cogitate on what His voice perpetrated with creation! He spoke and it was! Now we know His voice is indeed mighty and can give life. How do we 'hear' this raw power now?
The avenue in which we hear God's voice now is the Bible, the Word of God. This voice explains to us,
"The Word of God is quick, alive, active and powerful (Hebrews 4:12 and depending on which version you use: this is KJV and NIV) which can divide asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (mostly KJV).
This kind of power we may take a step or two backwards from because it hits us where it may pain us; reaching into the inner sanctums of our beings. Like a surgeon's knife, routing out all that should not be there; convicting us, guiding us, to the way we should go. This, all out of God's gracious heart of love and care for the individual. Can you hear His Voice?
Elijah had such an experience (1 Kings 19:11-13). He was on the run from the murderous Queen Jezebel who had vowed to kill him. He ran and eventually ended up in a cave feeling exceedingly sorry for himself and ironically wishing to die (1 Kings 19:3, 4)! God wouldn't let him. There was a mighty wind, an earthquake and fire roaring passed that cave but God's voice came only after the force of nature took its course. Then Elijah heard God's "gentle whisper" (verse 12).
God wouldn't let him carry on feeling sorry for himself. He had fed him earlier and let him have his sleep but He didn't let it go on at infinitum. He talked with him at the cave mouth and encouraged him, telling him that there were others who still had the fear of God in them and who did not bow down to Baal. He also told him he still had a mission. Like, "get up now, dust yourself off; I've got something more for you to do".
Sometimes, in our anguish of a desperate situation, its soothing balm to hear God's whispered voice even if He is propelling us to specific action that we may not want to perform. There is power even in His whisper.
Further down in Psalm 29, we learn that the powerful voice of the LORD has the capability to break "cedars", and not just an ordinary kind of cedars, but the "cedars of Lebanon" (vs 8). These were of well known quality and of great value in that ancient world; a symbol of strength and durability. They could withstand much and were used to make sturdy buildings such as kings' palaces and even the temple that King Solomon built for God (1 Kings 6:29-30). Yet, the Psalmist remarked, "the voice of the LORD could break them.
If the LORD's whisper is powerfully motivating what would His shout be like? However, I suspect it's good to be sensitive to His whisper.
Listen for His voice.
Members of God's creation do well to listen for the Creator's voice. Even if we are a mighty man or woman of God, of great integrity, devotion and commitment (like a "cedar of Lebanon), it's good to examine ourselves in God's eyes for anything in our "joints and marrow" that God wants to address. His voice can assist you to "break" it.
"The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire...shakes the wilderness" (vs 7, 8).
In the wilderness of wanderings the Israelites encountered the voice of the LORD numerous times. God's presence was in the cloud and pillar of fire. He spoke to Moses who then passed on the message to the throngs. Sometimes they listened and sometimes they didn't; that's when they would hear God's "shout" which boded no good for them.
It's riveting to see what else the voice of the LORD effectuated: it made,
"Lebanon to skip like a calf...and the deer to give birth" (Psalm 29:6, 9 ESV).
A nation and a creature of the forest felt the joy (birth generally does) of hearing God's voice.
The Creator of all the earth was definitely interested in His creatures, including mankind. He wanted to interact and still does. This is His desire, His longing to connect.
The Bible is teeming with instances of the voice of the Lord speaking to His creatures: to mankind in particular. Sometimes it was blessed communion, at other times exhortation and admonishment. From Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; to Cain with a grudge against Abel, his brother; to Noah, directed to build an ark; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who even had a wrestling match with God until He spoke the words Jacob wanted to hear); King Solomon; the many judges and prophets (especially Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Amos, etc) inspired so much communication from God.
And then...then that awful silence!
Some believe that silence held for about of 400 years! No one heard the voice of the LORD.
What were the thoughts of the sons of man? Disappointment? Oh God, who's He? He doesn't care about us anymore. Does He really exist!? Some of the righteous men may have said, "We have the Torah. We can still trust God even though we don't aurally hear from Him. He has left us with His written word.
Then the deafening silence was interrupted. God had not forgotten His human creatures. It was God's momentous occasion, the culmination of all that had gone beforehand.
Zechariah had been faithfully going about his high priestly duty in the temple little expecting to hear the voice of the LORD that fine day. He encountered an angel bearing a special delivery message for him straight from the heavenly realms. Granted, it wasn't a direct tete-a-tete with God, but it was a message from Him just the same.
It was an Abraham and Sarah-like moment; Zechariah and Elizabeth would have a child in their old age. It was so hard for Zechariah to believe it; yet it came to pass.
Next, Mary got her astounding message from the same angel. This was also from God. Jesus was to be born and she was the one to conceive through the Holy Spirit's hovering and give birth to Emmanuel!
What a marvelously miraculous way to break the silence!
God, with us!
His voice come in human form; so to speak!
Ponder on that a spell.
Spellbinding times!
At Jesus's birth, the voice from Heaven told the shepherds where to look for the Savior. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. God's voice came again at Jesus' baptism and at His transfiguration. Multitudes flocked to Him and heard His many words of teaching and touches of healing. Makes one weep to reflect about it; it touches the recesses of my heart! The gospels record Jesus' voice; the statements He expressed from the cross.
Continued tuning in to the voice of the LORD has all been made possible by the gift of salvation God gave us through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, and the gift of His Holy Spirit and God's Word, the Bible. Remember all this on Lord's Day as we partake of the symbols of His body and blood, the bread and wine.
Nowadays, the Bible, God's Word, can speak to us followers of Jesus through the Holy Spirit as we read and hide it in our hearts. He has not left us bereft. He is not silent. He cares.
We are very privileged to be able to still hear our Father's voice.
Listen.
~ERC October 2019~
Listen (The Voice of God) as sung by David Griffin music
I Will Listen as sung by Twila Paris
No comments:
Post a Comment