What Cannot be Heard

1 Samuel 5-6, Romans 5, Jeremiah 43 and Psalm 19

I’ve never written a journal entry on a Psalm. Mostly because I think they are pretty deep and the narrative text is far easier for me to connect with. Today, I decided to give myself (and you) a little challenge. I love the message we heard in Romans but I suspect it’s not your first time there. Instead, I decided to really pray on and connect with Psalm 19. As soon as I began reading the words, my mind heard a melody. Does that happen to you? So many church songs we grew up to are revealed to us in print when we study the bible. The author, presumably King David opens with:

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1)

That line is one we’ve heard so often that it’s easy to breeze past it. David is literally saying here that the tangible vision we have of the open sky, the mountains, the seas and all the earth’s creatures is a proclamation of God’s work. The next part is what got my mind working today:

“Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:2-3)

I want to stop and just dwell there today. There is so much in Psalm 19 but something in these two verses really resonates with me. In verse 2, the phrase “pour out” literally means to gush or bubble up. This phrase is often used in the Bible to describe springs or fountains of water. David uses the metaphor of an endless fountain or bubbling stream to depict the endlessness of God’s speech in our world. Then, in verse 3 a paradox. He literally says, “There is no speech, nor are there words…” There it is. The very definition of faith. As Christians we must connect with our Heavenly Father and his word without really hearing his words first hand. We must look for the message and with practice, obedience and patience we of course will hear him through the Holy Spirit.

This isn’t a new concept for us to struggle with. Paul writes about it to the Roman’s, even quoting Psalm 19:

“For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

 So we are without excuse. Sometimes I feel a little jealous of those Old Testament guys like Moses that got to actually hear God’s real voice. But as David and later Paul reminds us, the mark of our Father is absolutely everywhere we look. He is present in our lives and he wants connection with us. As the summer draws to a close and we all get into the rhythm of a new school year may we commit to getting into a rhythm with God. No, we cannot hear Him as Moses once did but we’ll be able to feel Him with cooler crisp breezes and see Him with changing leaves. Psalm 19 is inviting us to worship and honor him by attending to the glory of his creation. Listen for his voice in new ways and we will hear His call.