“Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,
and in his temple all cry, ‘Glory!’” Psalm 29:1-9
At His voice, all was created, weather whips, wars cease, life begins, life ends. At His voice, kingdoms are raised up, kingdoms fall, men are healed, men are saved. At His voice, hope is conveyed, God is glorified, men are raised to life. judgment falls, storms are stilled. Do we listen, listen to hear His voice? (Mark 4:39; John 11:40-44); 16:33; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
When we consider the Lord and His voice, all it communicates and effectuates, we are compelled to silence, a holy hush. No words match, none adequately respond in like power, or splendor. Our human communication cannot touch the divine. We are stilled, speechless, and long to hear more and longer the roar of many waters. From the depth of our souls, our only worthy and appropriate response, at the close of all our listening, is to cry “Glory!” to His name. (Ezekiel 43:2; Revelation 1:15; 14:2)
In a society of noise, in person and virtual, from lips and screens, God’s voice can be lost. He does not always speak the loudest, or communicate in magnificent, obvious, audible ways, so His whisper can go undetected when we are bombarded with busy cacophony or tuned in to other alluring melodies or dissonant messages. (1 Kings 19:11-13)
What will it take for us to hush, watch, and listen? Would we observe the orchestration of His voice around us? Would we allow ourselves to get lost in wonder at His effectual word? Would we withhold judgment and jumping to conclusions? Stop short of taking credit, registering our opinions, making excuses, assigning blame? Will we determine today to humble ourselves, be still, and truly listen? Then pray in awe-struck, devoted, grateful response? (Psalm 46:10; Isaiah 6:1-8; Matthew 26:41; Luke 9:34-36)
“I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up… And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called… And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” Isaiah 6:1,4-7
Father, may the rhythms and cadence of Your word be my delight every moment, every day. Shake my foundations with Your voice, and purify mine, for the sake of Your glory.
As the rain and snow 