Psalm 29 reveals a powerful way we can hear God’s voice. It has been stirring my imagination of what it means to hear him.

Follow along with me 🙂

It begins with a very typical introduction to God’s voice by saying:

The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.

v4

It first talks about God’s thunderous and majestic voice. It makes people shudder from hearing it. People long to hear this voice of God. To hear the voice that spoke to Moses from the mountain of God. To hear the voice that was heard over Jesus’ baptisms. That’s what people want. Perhaps that’s what you want.

But then it continues by describing several unique manifestations of God’s voice:

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.

v 5

God’s voice breaks the cedars? Strange. Then in v 7-8 it continues:

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.

v7-8

Flames of fire? Shaking the wilderness? Okay weird.. Finally it gives the final manifestation of his voice in v 9:

The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth
and strips the forests bare,

v9

Something strange happens here… God’s voice is not what I expected!

I was expecting something audible, and something I could hear with my ears. But the Psalmist transitions to something visual.

He talks about how how the voice of God is evinced in the trees, in the wilderness, and in the wonder of a deer giving birth. In other words, to hear the voice of God, sometimes we don’t use our ears, we use our eyes.

For in the handiwork of God, God’s voice is revealed. One look at a majestic view of a forest, an ocean, the mountains, and we see the fruit of the One who “spoke the universe into existence” (Ps 33:6). It is what we see where we see God’s voice reverberating still.

I can see his majestic powerful voice resonating in the beautiful world we live in. I can hear the music of his voice in the sound of the rivers. I can hear the tones of his voice in the rocks of the mountains. I can hear the wonders of his words in the miracle of birth.

Do you struggle to hear God’s voice? Then maybe we should look around to hear his voice.

For in seeing…

It reveals a God who speaks.
It reveals a God who speaks wonderful things.

And we are reminded that to hear God’s voice, sometimes it’s not about using our eyes; it’s about using our eyes.

Do you hear God’s voice with your eyes as well?