When I Can't Hear Him

“To you, O Lord, I call;

    my rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you be silent to me,

    I become like those who go down to the pit.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

    when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

    toward your most holy sanctuary.”

“Blessed be the Lord!

    For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

    in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

    and with my song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people;

    he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

    Be their shepherd and carry them forever.” (Psalms 28:1-2,6-9 ESV)

Now the Scriptures talk much about us listening to the Lord and him speaking to our hearts, and they teach us that God does speak to us and that the Holy Spirit is our counselor, teacher, helper, and guide. So we have to be able to hear the Lord speaking to us, not necessarily audibly, but in our minds and in our spirits and in our hearts. And yes, he does speak to us through the Scriptures, but he needs to be able to direct us each day in specific ways in which he wants us to go and to do and to say.

And the Bible is not going to say, “Sue Love, I want you to teach on Psalms 28 today.” Or “Sue Love, I want you to call so and so and say to him or her what I give you to say.” And the Scriptures are not necessarily going to give us our specific assignments from the Lord and guidance and direction as to where to live and who to talk to and when and what to say. But all that we hear in our minds and in our hearts that we believe is direction from the Lord and from his leading must not be anti-biblical and against God. And we must not forsake the Scriptures, but we must follow what they teach us.

So, I said all that to say this, that when we are used to hearing the Lord speak to us in our minds, spirits, and hearts, and we are used to him directing our paths each day, guiding us in the way he would want us to go each specific day, then when we cannot hear his voice sometimes it can be disconcerting. And for me, since I rely on the Lord to lead me each day in what passage to teach on and in what to write or say (like writing a devotion or a poem or a Christian meme or like recording a video devotion), if I can’t hear him telling me what to do next, then that can be unsettling.

But I believe the Lord allows these times in my life to test my faith and to keep me trusting him even when I don’t sense his presence with me and even when I can’t hear him directing me in what to do next or what to say next or what to write on next. And I had a couple of days like that this week. And so I called on the Lord like the Psalmist did, and I pleaded with the Lord that I might hear from him, and I reminded him that I cannot do this without him, for I don’t do this on my own or in my flesh, but only as I am being led of the Lord in what to write on and in what to say.

And sometimes when I have times like this, which are not often, I call upon the Lord and I inquire of him as to if I have done something wrong, or if I failed to hear him and to follow him in the way in which he was leading me, in case that might be the reason for his silence. And so this ends up being a time for me to make certain that I am hearing him correctly and that I am following him in the way that he has for me to go, and it strengthens me in my walk of faith and it gives me assurance of his voice speaking to me.

For I cannot do what he has me doing every day without him, without him speaking to my heart and directing me in the way he would have me go, and without him guiding me in what to say and to whom and as to what mode of communication he would have for me to use at this particular time. And so maybe sometimes he doesn’t speak to me as a reminder to me of my total dependence on him for my strengthening of my faith in service to him.

But what I know is that it is the Lord who is my strength and my shield. I cannot do what I do without him. My dependence is fully on him to be led of his Spirit and to be able to do each day what he has called me to do. He is my helper. He is the one guiding me and directing my path. And he is my shepherd who leads me in the path of righteousness for his name’s sake. And he is the one who carries me through all the storms that he allows me to go through, and so when I can’t hear him, I rest in him, knowing that he is there and that he is going to bring me through this, for his glory.

Video Talk

https://youtu.be/lXDtr3n5-KQ

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Hear my Voice 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally. 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

https://vimeo.com/119813963