© 15 Colin Melbourne
Hearing The Voice of God
For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:
Psalm 95:7-8 KJV
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Heb. 3:15 KJV
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Heb. 4:7b KJV
First spoken by David in Psalm 95, then emphasized under the New Covenant in Hebrews chapters three and four.
Why?
Because hearing His Voice is crucial for a living relationship with Almighty God.
Can you hear Him?
Do you wish you could hear God’s Voice speaking to you?
Well, you most certainly can, because He wants you to hear Him always.
It’s up to You
If you are not hearing God speak to you today, this scripture is saying it is your responsibility, so do not blame Him.
That is the very point of the first clause in His declaration.
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
God is telling His creatures that to hear His Voice; listen to your heart, keep it tender, believing, attentive, and you will perceive Him speaking to you: Spirit to spirit. His Spirit to your spirit.
The believer is to listen for, and hear God’s Voice.
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Your Heart’s Desire: Gone!
Modern bibles omitt the vital word “will”, with the result that it reverses the meaning of the verse.
That is what the Devil does with God’s word; he mocks and abuses it.
It worked for him in the Garden of Eden, and it works today.
See what your Bible says at Heb. 4:7b, and if it does not have;
To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Then it’s a broken Bible, not God’s true words.
To day if ye will hear his voice… is what the Spirit of God inspired for us, properly translated into English.
If ye will hear has an entirely different meaning from if you hear his voice, doesn’t it?
If ye will hear means if you want to, desire to, hear His Voice.
Father is saying to His children, “If you want to hear my voice today, keep your heart tender, believing, and you shall hear me.”
Can’t hear Him so He mustn’t be speaking to me
Whereas, if you hear his voice implies, if God happens to speak and you hear His Voice.
If ye will hear therefore affirms that God is indeed speaking to you today, and that hearing Him depends upon your willingness to hear Him.
Do you want to hear God today?
The majority of people do not, they prefer to ignore Him, reject Him, and listen to their idols speaking to them instead.
They eagerly hear what their idols say, but are deaf to their Creator.
Recall how it was when you were lost in your sins.
Boring, switch channel
Did you want to hear God?
Of course not, you had minimal interest in what God had to say. You contented yourself with other interests, and they were surely not from God.
But because of His infinite love for you, in mercy, He drew you from idols to Jesus, and opened your spiritual eyes and ears to perceive Him.
How?
His Spirit lovingly revealed to your spirit Christ Jesus, the LORD and Saviour made Flesh.
To day if ye will hear
Then gentle as a tender Lamb, He waited, outside your heart He awaited your response to His Divine call.
Oh how meek and humble is the LORD of Glory!
Watch a snow flake fall softly onto your open palm.
He’s even more gentle than that.
Christ will not impose Himself on you, because He wants your heart, freely given, all of it: That is Love’s way.
You must truly want Him, that is why He waits patiently for you to receive Him.
The instant you chose to repent and believe in Him, He swept into your heart, Jn. 1:12-13 KJV;
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
He brought you to Life by His Spirit.
You became a new spiritual creature in Christ, the old had gone, the new had come: You had been born of God.
Now understand this; That day you heard His Voice because you were willing to, you desired to hear, so you heard.
Spiritually, you heard His Voice speaking to your spirit. You responded by repenting and receiving Him as LORD into your spirit, and you were raised up to new life in Him.
Your salvation, with the indwelling witness of God is proof that you heard Him speak, inviting you to repent and believe in Christ as LORD.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
It’s exactly the same now, because it is still today, and He hasn’t changed. Aren’t you glad He is the God of now.
He was speaking to you long before you desired to hear.
Whilst still in your sins: Selah!
You heard Him when you finally paid attention to Him.
Isn’t that the truth?
He respected your stubborn refusal to listen, continued to love you, and waited for you to turn to Him.
Would He be any less willing to speak to you now that you are His child?
He still respects your will.
He still loves you.
He still waits for us to desire to hear His Voice.
Then we hear Him
Our Perfect Living LORD and Saviour.
How you can be led by the Spirit of God: It is vital for new Christians to learn to listen to the Lord in their daily walk. He guides us softly by His Spirit in our spirits.
© 15 Colin Melbourne