I Have To Hear God's Voice

INTRO

Someone said if you read five psalms a day, you’ll read the book of Psalms in a month. Fred calls the Psalms the “mental health” book of the Bible. Further, if you want to learn to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind, you need the psalms. When we break down Psalm 83, we’ll see we’ve probably experienced everything mentioned in this psalm.

TEACHING

Psalm 83:1-4: In verse 1, the psalmist gave a command (request) to God by expressing what he needed. He begged God not to remain silent but to speak to him. He needed God to listen to him. He asked God not to remain aloof from him. Is there anything more practical than these requests? When you look back over your life, were there times when you felt God was distant? That He wasn’t listening to you? That He wasn’t speaking to you? Maybe the psalmist felt God was distant and not hearing him because he was so tuned in to what people said about him—their plots and their growling against him. Isn’t that like the human spirit? Doesn’t it bother us a lot when people talk against us?

Second Chronicles 20 listed the nations that plotted together against Judah. When the Moabites, Ammonites, and Meunites waged war against Jehoshaphat, he proclaimed a fast and led the people to seek the Lord. This is a very important step for us. The moment we get alarmed, we need to calm down and seek the Lord. Psalm 83 encourages us to decide whom we will listen to. Will we be focused on the enemy or will we be focused on the Lord? In 2 Chronicles 20:14, when the fast ended, the spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel, a descendant of Asaph, the writer of this psalm. This is the connection between 2 Chronicles 20 and Psalm 83. After Jehoshaphat had prayed and consulted the people, he “appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him” as they led the army into battle (2 Chronicles 20:21). In Psalm 83, they were remembering that praise won the battle.

Psalms 83:5–10: The Edomites, Philistines, and Assyrians formed an alliance against them. The psalmist asked God to “do to them as you did to Midian” (v. 9). His request called to mind the days of the judges—of Gideon (Judges 7), and Deborah (Judges 4). This psalm emphasizes that God can do so much with so little. We don’t need a vast army or strong fighters. God can use the weak, the unexpected, the choir to praise, and God can use the 300 over the 32,000 (Gideon’s small army of 300 from the 32,000 who originally responded to his call). The psalmist prayed for God to speak, to do something. I wonder if we would have the same presence of mind to demand the voice of God. We don’t need a vast army because we have a God who speaks. In Genesis 1, God spoke and all of creation came into being. As you move on, there would be no Abraham without the voice of God. There would be no Moses without the voice of God in a burning bush. There would be no Joseph without the voice of God through an angel in a dream. There would be no Mary without the voice of God. You’ll never experience the purpose of your life without the voice of God. When God is working, through His voice, anything can happen.

How can you and I, today, hear the voice of God? The list could be endless, but here are a few ways:

God speaks through prayer. God’s voice is particularly strong and clear in the morning. Are you committed to prayer, to spending time with God listening to Him?

God speaks through Scripture. If God ever says anything that violates His Scripture, then it’s not God. Everything He says has to go back to Scripture, which is God-breathed and useful (2 Timothy 3:16–17). Scripture will help you figure out God’s voice.

God speaks through His Holy Spirit. In the book of Acts, in the moment when a person was filled with the Holy Spirit, their ability to communicate was completely changed. Invite the Holy Spirit into your life to speak to you.

God speaks through the church. Hebrews 10:25 instructs believers not to forsake assembling together. We can’t give up meeting with one another “all the more as you see the day approaching.” We’ve got to be together.

God speaks through important people in our lives. We should pick out five people in our lives who love us and whom we trust so we can turn to them. We need to find mentors—people who can speak to us before we make major decisions.

God speaks through creation. Many people say God speaks to them when they are out on the water, so they don’t go to church. Of course, God is speaking to them on the water—He is constantly speaking. We can’t be out looking at the stars or the sunset or noticing the things around us without hearing God speak. When you see the stars, you begin to see that God is infinite. There’s no other place to see the tremendous order of God, but through His creation.

God speaks through our talents and the talents of others. As you begin to serve, to love, to use your gifts, God will begin to direct you into other places. Remember, it’s easier to steer a moving car than one that is sitting still. When we’re moving, God can begin to steer us in certain directions. It’s easier to hear His voice. When you wonder if you’re hearing from Him, God will continue to tell you. God will repeat Himself.

God speaks through worship. Worship is surrender. Every time we worship, we say to God, “I’m not in charge, You are.” When we begin to worship, God speaks in a big way into our lives.

God speaks through circumstances. If you got quiet, you could think of a number of ways God speaks. Do you have a longing for His voice, to be in His presence, to be directed by God.

Psalm 83:16–18: After a long list of ways the psalmist wanted God to act, he said: “Cover their faces with shame, Lord, so that they will seek your name” (v. 16). Then psalmist then concluded: “Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth (v. 18). Even as the psalmist called God to act against the enemy, he was calling for God to change their hearts—to help them to know Him and turn toward Him.

CLOSING

Asaph was a man who knew his history, who knew what God had done in his life, and he wasn’t ashamed to tell the story of what God had done not only in his life but in the life of history. Have you shared the stories of what God has done in your life with your kids and grandkids? They need to hear it over and over again.