Meditations by John Dean

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Do Not Forget His Voice

(Psalm 85:8 KJV)  “I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints...”

I love this verse because it starts off in a positive proactive way. It says, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak…” which is a faith filled statement. I also love it because it leaves no doubt whether or not one can hear the voice of the Lord. Therefore one would have to conclude that the only thing in question is one’s desire to hear the voice of the Lord.

Perhaps the reason it is hard for many Christians to hear the voice of God is because they are distracted by their natural hearing to the extent that it has impaired their spiritual hearing. In other words they are trying to make their analytical mind do what only their spiritual mind is capable of doing.

Natural sounds can only be heard with natural ears and spiritual sounds are typically heard by spiritual ears. However, there have been cases where people have said that they have literally heard the audible voice of the Lord speaking to them. I would never challenge such a statement, but I will say that God’s voice can be so impactful in one’s spirit that it seems audible.

The point of this Meditation is not to debate whether or not God can speak audibly to a person. God can do whatever He wants to do, but should He choose to speak in an audible voice it is not because that person is more spiritual are more special than anyone else. As a matter of fact mouth to ear communication is a lower level of communication than spirit to spirit.

The main point of this Meditation is not how God speaks to one but that He does speak to each of us in a way that we can each hear His voice. As a matter of fact I believe that every baby is born knowing how to hear the voice of God and therefore they have to learn how to stop hearing His voice.

My wife and I have a little twenty month old niece that we absolutely adore. We have had the privilege of keeping her a lot from the time she was born. When Raleigh was just a wee little baby my wife would sit and hold her on her chest while Raleigh slept, rather than putting her in her crib…because she loved holding her. As a result I would often hear my wife whispering these words in little Raleigh’s ears as she slept…do not forget His voice…do not forget God’s voice…do not forget His voice.

I wonder if that is not the same determination that is found in our text where it says, “I will hear what God the Lord will speak…?” If I may be permitted to paraphrase that statement it would read, “I will continue to hear what God the Lord speaks…”

Father,
Teach me to listen more and speak less because I never want to be distracted by things that would cause me to forget Your voice. Father, I love the wee small gentle voice of the Holy Spirit, my friend.

Amen

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