Joyful Hearing

Psalm 60: 8       CJB

God in his holiness spoke, and I took joy [in his promise].

In case you want to find this verse in a different translation, it will be verse six in most other translations.

David was dismayed and crying out to the Lord. Though disgruntled and wracked with worry, he knew the Lord’s nature and that God wanted to rescue His people. In the midst of his travail the voice of God rescued him with the promise of deliverance.

One of the things which distinguishes some of us from David and the great prophets is the ability to hear God speak. Some people say that God no longer speaks as their reason for not hearing Him. Frankly, that is ludicrous. Does the Father love us any less than He has loved generations of His kids? To suggest so would be an insult to He who is love. Is His hand no longer powerful enough to save? Of course not. In His voice is the promise of rescue, the assurance of salvation in every situation.

Here is the question which may plague some of us. Were there, are there, just special people to whom God chose to speak, to bless, to deliver? Was David born special? Isaiah? What about the Apostle John who was given the most incredible revelation? This is the same John who Jesus rebuked when he and his brother wanted to rain down fire from heaven to consume a whole town. You wouldn’t think that the action of one of the divinely touched ones. Instead it seems to be evidence that John had to learn how to hear God. He had to learn how to live in the anointing. And if he could learn, then doesn’t it stand to reason that each of us has the same opportunity?

I think part of what made David special was that he took the time listen to God. Before that, though, he took the time to learn to hear God. I imagine he learned that lesson and practiced while tending those sheep for his father. What may appear to be an innate skill is, I believe, actually a learned one. That is good news for us all. We too, if we will make it a goal and take the time, can learn to hear God’s voice. I know I hear much better now than I did at one time. That is at least anecdotal evidence that hearing God’s voice is not a gift reserved for the few but rather a skill able to be developed by anyone.

When David was down and worried the voice of God lifted his despair. I am sure God speaking in our ears will do the same for us. We have only to spend time with God getting used to hearing Him.