The Voice of God

...as it is said, Today if ye will
hear His voice, harden not your hearts.
Hebrews 4:7b

A speaking voice is something we take for granted. We may not think about our voices until we have sore throats or lose our voices for some physical reason. Some folks talk so much we might like to ask them to give their voices a rest. It goes without saying that our voices are very necessary when needing to communicate with others.

This thing of the voice came to me as I observed five grand-boys ages eight and under who were here in our home for the last four days with their parents. My hubby has always told me that “Little girls talk while little boys make noise.” Truer words were never spoken. It was amazing to observe the different voice ranges and volumes that are a part of each boy. It wasn't hard to detect who was speaking, laughing or crying when in another room or when in the back yard playing. From birth, our voices are meant to distinguish us from others.

Voices have various tones and even volumes as folks grow into adulthood. Few people sound vocally like other people. My sister, Sharon Kay, and I found people telling us that we sounded very much alike, especially on the phone. When visiting in her home, she would at times ask me to answer a ringing phone if she was outside with the her dogs and if her husband Kent was gone to run errands. There were church friends who sometimes called and I answered the phone. They would begin talking like they thought I was my sister. I always hated to correct them, but did and their responses were generally the same: “You and your sister sound just alike.”

There is a voice, however, that can never sound like any other voice. This sometimes a still, small voice that speaks to our hearts, a voice that can minister to us if we are silent enough to listen. That voice I'm speaking of is the voice of God. Scripture tells us to “be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10) At times, we will hear His voice only if we are quiet enough in our spirits to listen and receive what God has to say to us.

Recently, in what I call “Recreational Bible reading,” I came across Psalm 29. This is the reading I do that isn't a deep study read, but when I just want to sit back with the Word and read whatever, wherever I want to. The first two verses of this Psalm got my attention right away for both verses started out with the same phrase...”Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty, give unto the Lord glory and strength.” That was just verse one. Verse 2 echoed the same as if to impress that same thought into the reader's heart...”Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” In these days, in our spiritual walk, we give a lot of glory to a lot of people, but true glory is reserved for God and God alone. We give glory to authors, athletes, musicians and even the best of preachers. Not one of them is worthy of true glory...only God.

However, the rest of this Psalm speaks of “the voice of the LORD” over and over, and lists some of the ways where God's voice is heard or felt. For instance:

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth...(3)
The voice of the Lord is powerful---the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. (4)
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars (5)
The voice of the Lord divideth the flames of fire (7)
The voice of the Lord shaketh the wilderness (8)
The voice of the Lord maketh the hinds to calve (9)

In this Psalm I see that my God can do anything with His voice. The list could go on and on if we look closer in Scripture. We human beings can have some influence with our voices, but no way can we come close to the powerful voice of God. I see from this Psalm that when God chooses to speak, it is more powerful than we can imagine. I also see that in all the ways I read how God speaks, that I am more important than any waters, cedars, wilderness areas or anything that is on fire. His voice can speak on my behalf under any of my circumstances.

This Psalm ends with proof of what I just said, when David, the beloved Psalmist says:

The Lord will give strength unto His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Psalm 29:11

We can take heart that the voice of God will function for our good and that He will grant to us a strength that can only come from Him as well as a peace that cannot be explained.

Away from Psalm 29 is another precious “voice verse” and we all probably memorized it when children in Vacation Bible Schools. The verse is Revelation 3:20:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice and open the door,
I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with Me.

This verse is most often used to encourage an unsaved person. However, this verse speaks of “any man.” Even when saved, there are times when Jesus still comes and knocks at the door of our hearts but notice, He doesn't just knock...He also speaks. He does all He can on His part through action and voice to get our attention, to ask Him in for fellowship. 

John 10:3,4 tells us that Jesus, as the Good Shepherd Who knows His sheep and then adds that His sheep know His voice. You and I should not only know Jesus, but should know Him so intimately that we immediately recognize and heed that precious voice of His.

Dear Father, I confess that I get so busy about the things of life that can so easily focus on things in general to the point that I don't hear Your still, small voice. I know that You won't yell or even raise Your voice to get my attention. I pray I will be alert to Your voice and leading in even in Your whispers. In Jesus' precious name....Amen