I love to spend time in the woods. With the branches reaching the heights and the canopies all around me, the beauty I see makes my heart feel alive. There are many reasons to love the woods: the smell of the forest, the crunch of leaves beneath my feet, the rocks, the moss, and the critters scampering about. But above all of these qualities, there is one reason why I love the woods: God taught me to hear his voice here. As often as I could, when I was young, I would venture into the sanctuary of my wooded backyard, climb onto my swing set, and lift my song with the trees that surrounded me up to my Father. It was here that my heart was first moved to know Him; to know the one that made such beauty all around. I would swing back and forth, back and forth, keeping the motion in rhythm with my love songs. One song that I sang over and over was a song called, "The Voice of God". The words of the chorus went like this:
I hear His voice every time I hear a newborn baby cry,
when I hear the sparrow singing at the dawn of morning light.
I hear His voice when I hear the thunder echo through the sky,
when I hear the wind come whistling through a forest full of pines,
then I know, yes, I know I have heard the voice of God.
Often times I would weep as I sang this song to my Father. I knew that His voice was all around me. I knew that, then and there, He saw me and He loved me. If such a God was speaking to me, then I could not help but call back to Him. My song was the response to such a Voice.
Like the song I sang on my swing set, Psalm 29 describes God's voice. However, Psalm 29 doesn't describe the gentle sounds of His voice. In fact, I'd say it's a stark contrast to the song I so often sang as a child. It's a Psalm about the absolute power, majesty, and authority of His voice; that God speaks, and forests are striped bare; that He speaks, and every created thing shakes and trembles. I love the contrast and the many facets of my God. In both the gentle whisper and the mighty thunder, I am filled with awe and holy reverence that leaves me with one response: worship. If such a voice is speaking, how can I not respond? If God is willing to whisper and to shout, then I, too, must give Him my whisper in the secret place and the shout in the assembly of the saints. Worship will always be the response to His voice.
Some of the most powerful times of worship, however, are birthed when we cannot seem to hear His voice. Now, I know this may seem like a contradiction to everything we feel, but I believe that there is eternal glory developed in us when we choose to worship Him when He seems silent. Notice I said "seems." I believe that God, the one who is referred to as THE WORD, is never truly silent. He is so full of wisdom and counsel that even His silence speaks volumes. Much like a husband and a wife or a father and a child can simply look at one another and communicate immeasurably, I believe God communes with us in the silence. Another way to describe this silence is "the wilderness." Every believer will go through a season where they feel alone in the wilderness; where God's voice seems distant, hard to find, or even non-existentant. It is here in this wilderness where real worship is found. Anyone can worship when they hear God's voice thundering in the heavens or even in their heart. But costly, eternal gold producing worship, is developed in us when we stand in the wilderness, deaf to His voice, and still choose to lift our hands to the One who speaks. Whether I hear Him, see Him, or feel Him, I know He is here. I know He is God. And I know my response to such a voice must be worship.
Psalm 29 gives us a key to understanding the wilderness. It says in verse 8, "The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh." When we are in a wilderness season, God is still speaking. Whether we hear Him or not, He is using His voice to shake everything that needs to be shaken in us. Hebrews 12:26-27 says,
When we are in a wilderness season, God is still speaking. He is, as Hebrews 12:25 a puts it, the One who speaks. His voice may be unheard to us in the wilderness, but He is speaking and shaking every hindrance out of our heart. He is removing every temporal, carnal, element from our spirit so that only the eternal glory will remain.
"The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness." I believe that this is also a promise to us that, if we are going through a season where we cannot hear God's voice, we can hold on knowing that all at once, He will breakthrough and shake us right where we are! He will not 'seem' silent forever! He will find us even in the wilderness! We WILL hear His voice again...just keep worshiping untill you do!
I don't believe that it's an accident that the very next verse in Psalm 29 says, "The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth." You see, God first shakes the wilderness in order that we may give birth. Every season of silence IS producing something inside of us that, with just a whisper from God's mouth, will be born from us in due time. The same voice that shakes the wilderness will once again gently speak, and all that was growing inside of us in that season will be known.
Whether I am in a season of clear communication or one of seeming silence, I know that His voice is all around me. Even as I knew on my swing set that, then and there, He saw me and He loved me, today, if such a God is speaking to me, then I cannot help but call back to Him. My song was and ever more will be the response to such a Voice.
I hear His voice every time I hear a newborn baby cry,
when I hear the sparrow singing at the dawn of morning light.
I hear His voice when I hear the thunder echo through the sky,
when I hear the wind come whistling through a forest full of pines,
then I know, yes, I know I have heard the voice of God.
Often times I would weep as I sang this song to my Father. I knew that His voice was all around me. I knew that, then and there, He saw me and He loved me. If such a God was speaking to me, then I could not help but call back to Him. My song was the response to such a Voice.
Like the song I sang on my swing set, Psalm 29 describes God's voice. However, Psalm 29 doesn't describe the gentle sounds of His voice. In fact, I'd say it's a stark contrast to the song I so often sang as a child. It's a Psalm about the absolute power, majesty, and authority of His voice; that God speaks, and forests are striped bare; that He speaks, and every created thing shakes and trembles. I love the contrast and the many facets of my God. In both the gentle whisper and the mighty thunder, I am filled with awe and holy reverence that leaves me with one response: worship. If such a voice is speaking, how can I not respond? If God is willing to whisper and to shout, then I, too, must give Him my whisper in the secret place and the shout in the assembly of the saints. Worship will always be the response to His voice.
Some of the most powerful times of worship, however, are birthed when we cannot seem to hear His voice. Now, I know this may seem like a contradiction to everything we feel, but I believe that there is eternal glory developed in us when we choose to worship Him when He seems silent. Notice I said "seems." I believe that God, the one who is referred to as THE WORD, is never truly silent. He is so full of wisdom and counsel that even His silence speaks volumes. Much like a husband and a wife or a father and a child can simply look at one another and communicate immeasurably, I believe God communes with us in the silence. Another way to describe this silence is "the wilderness." Every believer will go through a season where they feel alone in the wilderness; where God's voice seems distant, hard to find, or even non-existentant. It is here in this wilderness where real worship is found. Anyone can worship when they hear God's voice thundering in the heavens or even in their heart. But costly, eternal gold producing worship, is developed in us when we stand in the wilderness, deaf to His voice, and still choose to lift our hands to the One who speaks. Whether I hear Him, see Him, or feel Him, I know He is here. I know He is God. And I know my response to such a voice must be worship.
Psalm 29 gives us a key to understanding the wilderness. It says in verse 8, "The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness; The Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh." When we are in a wilderness season, God is still speaking. Whether we hear Him or not, He is using His voice to shake everything that needs to be shaken in us. Hebrews 12:26-27 says,
"See that you do not refuse Him who speaks (25a)...whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.' Now this, 'Yet once more,' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain."
When we are in a wilderness season, God is still speaking. He is, as Hebrews 12:25 a puts it, the One who speaks. His voice may be unheard to us in the wilderness, but He is speaking and shaking every hindrance out of our heart. He is removing every temporal, carnal, element from our spirit so that only the eternal glory will remain.
"The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness." I believe that this is also a promise to us that, if we are going through a season where we cannot hear God's voice, we can hold on knowing that all at once, He will breakthrough and shake us right where we are! He will not 'seem' silent forever! He will find us even in the wilderness! We WILL hear His voice again...just keep worshiping untill you do!
I don't believe that it's an accident that the very next verse in Psalm 29 says, "The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth." You see, God first shakes the wilderness in order that we may give birth. Every season of silence IS producing something inside of us that, with just a whisper from God's mouth, will be born from us in due time. The same voice that shakes the wilderness will once again gently speak, and all that was growing inside of us in that season will be known.
Whether I am in a season of clear communication or one of seeming silence, I know that His voice is all around me. Even as I knew on my swing set that, then and there, He saw me and He loved me, today, if such a God is speaking to me, then I cannot help but call back to Him. My song was and ever more will be the response to such a Voice.
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