Psalm 131 was written by king David (Psalm 131:1a).
David speaks of his soul, see Body, Soul, and Spirit in
The Danger with Gnosticism. Man consists of body, soul, and spirit.
In another Psalm he speaks to his soul (Psalm 42:5a (6a in some translations). He then speaks to his emotions and intellect and asks himself why he is so depressed.
He tells himself to hope in God, see Hope in Faith, Hope, and Agape Love.
David speaks to his soul as a thing that can be tamed and controlled.
David writes: "But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." (Psalm 131:2). He announces to God that he has silenced his soul which is now content like a weaned child with its mother. In order to hear God's voice, he had to tune out his spirit.
One reason we are not in tune with our spirit is that our body and mind take up most of our time, and therefore we hardly hear anything from the spirit. It's very easy for the soul to take over. We also have difficulty distinguishing the differences between what comes from the soul and what comes from the spirit. They are almost indiscernible. That's one reason why God has given us the word, the Bible. It helps us to separate what comes from the soul and what comes from the spirit (Heb 4:12), see time 5:57–20:14 in DAVID GUZIK SERMON ON Hebrews 4:11-16. In addition to the Bible, we need the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our heart via our spirit
(Psalm 32:8). But then we must know that it's from the Holy Spirit and not from our soul. David had calmed and silenced his soul to become better at hearing the voice of the Lord. We must to do the same. He understood that his emotional voice from his soul was so strong that he needed to do that. He was a very passionate man.
David wrongly followed his emotions and intellect a few times which got him into very serious trouble (Proverbs 3:5–6), see time 12:32–14:37 in
Luke 5 (Part 1) • A Lesson, a Leper and Jesus proves He is God.
Worship is a kind of communication with God, see How should we worship God? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
To hear the voice of God
God wants to speak to us on a spiritual level. It is about tuning our hearts to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit. While we are born with our five senses switched on, our spiritual mind must develop over time. "God is spirit" (John 4:24) means; striving for the ability to hear his voice is a spiritual pursuit. All who believe in Christ have been given everything they need to hear God's voice. When we came to faith in Christ he gave us his Holy Spirit, and Apostle Paul reminds us that every child of God has "the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16b), see time 42:43–49:23 in 1 John 2 (Part 2).
There are several things that make it difficult to hear God's voice:
- The life of the flesh has hijacked our attention.
- Our hearts are so busy and so "loud" that they drown out God's voice.
- We become impatient because God doesn't respond in our timetable.
- Our faith muscles are slack and out of shape.
- Our Bibles have been closed far too often.
- Change our focus:
Jesus told us to: "Seek first the Kingdom of God" (Mat 6:33a), but often our attention is diverted to carnal pursuits and interests. Then we suddenly develop a need to seek God's will and we find it incredibly difficult to change our focus. Apostle Paul warned us that: "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." (Rom 8:5). We need to make a spiritual course correction. The Lord quickly answers our request to:
"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on Earth." (Col 3:2), and as a result, hearing his voice becomes so much easier. - Learn to quiet my soul:
Learning to hear God's voice means learning to silence all the other voices clamoring for my attention, including my own. Learning to silence the noise is important to hearing from God, see above. When you come for prayer, take time to sit in God's presence and wait on him, focus on him and only him. - Develop patience:
God is never in a hurry. If I want to know his hart on a matter, I'm the one who needs to adjust my expectations to his timeline, not the other way around. God has promised to give us the wisdom and guidance we seek (James 1:5), but how long are we willing to wait for the answer? Learning to be patient in prayer is important. David gives this perfect exhortation: "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" (Psalm 27:14). We need that reminder every day. But if a deadline forces me to make a quick decision and there is no time to wait, all I can really do is ask God to guide my decision and then take a leap of faith. - Exercise my faith:
It takes faith to hear from God, but if we don't use it regularly it becomes weak. "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." (James 1:6). God responds to our faith, so if we are weak in that area, we may struggle to hear from God. When we come to humble ourselves before God and confess our weaknesses and shortcomings, we know that God understands and is ready to give us what we need. We can ask God in prayer to help us have a strong faith. See also How to Build Your Faith. - Let the word transform my mind:
Paul wrote: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Rom 12:2). Knowing God's will becomes much easier when our hearts and minds are transformed by God. This happens as we continue to expose ourselves to the wisdom and insight found in God's word, the Bible. We can then take that knowledge and insight and use it to test situations to determine if they are from God or not. To know the word is to know the heart of God. Once we know God's heart, we find ourselves more able to foresee what pleases Him and what grieves Him.
How do we know God's will?
"Lord, lead me today and guide my life as you think best. I give my day to you and ask that you would open and close doors according to your perfect wisdom."
Then we can walk in the expectation that he leads and directs us.
- By praying and asking God for guidance. And then in the course of the Bible reading come to a place where the feeling that the Lord is speaking through the Scriptures for a specific direction. This can be a very powerful and effective way of knowing God's will.
- Hearing something when the word is taught. Something in a ministry speaks to me that feels like a specific direction to me from the Lord.
- By a "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:11–12) of God during the prayer time
or just when listening for God. God can then communicate through the
Holy Spirit to my spirit. See what to do when you feel God is silent at time 14:20–17:29 in Bible Q&A with Pastor Paul │February 2024. - Hearing the voice of God through the counsel of trustworthy and mature Christians. God can use them to speak into our lives. It doesn't mean getting other people to hear from God for me, but getting godly counsel to help me partake of God's guidance for my life by applying God's word to my situation. These people who are chosen as counselors need to have a proven track record of their own and the fruit of the Spirit in their lives (Gal 5:22–26).
