I was crying to the LORD with my voice, and He answered me from His holy mountain.
-Psalm 3:4 NASB
Life can be loud. The voices of this world are jarring. The success of this world often comes through raising up one’s own statement or opinion or resume to be louder than the rest. Even advertisements and campaigns choose the loudest colors, increasingly more shocking statements, and the biggest personality sweeps away the victory. It is survival of the loudest.
Then we meet God, by coming to the cross of Jesus Christ, and the Bible says He has a “still, small voice” (1 Kings 19:12 NKJV). Yet, that voice, when heard, has so much power and majestic glory packed into it that the prophet Elijah covered his face in his mantle in reverence at the presence of God Almighty, just as the seraphim who circle round the throne of heaven use one set of wings to cover their faces as they cry, ‘Holy, holy, holy!’
We must realize and believe that, if we can only hear that glorious voice and yield to it, we will have clarity over even the loudest voice in the cosmos. In reality, the main goal of prayer is to hear that still, small voice, and to come into contact with the power that caused Elijah to cover his face.
We may start our prayer to God feeling overwhelmed by loud voices, just as David did while fleeing from Absalom, his son. “Many are they who say of me, ‘There is no help for him in God’” (Psalm 3:2). David hears much that contradicts the truth. He is surrounded by bold claims against God. He does not seem to have sorted through it all as he begins to pray. We do not have to sort through these voices before we come to God; we just need to bring them to the right Person and make them bow at His feet. God is light, and He will expose everything for what it really is!
Nevertheless, watch what David does before his prayer is answered: “But You, O LORD, are a shield for me, my Glory and the One who lifts up my head” (3:3). He declares what he knows to be true about God from experience. He reminds God of the goodness of His character and being. What you and I must do while we wait for the answer of God’s still small voice is begin praying the attributes and promises of God. Tell Him who He said He is! Tell Him what He said He would do! In the process, you are reminding your own soul what kind of God you have.
Finally, God answers David, and He will answer us too when we come to Him this way. The still, small voice brings rest, first and foremost. David was facing a horrible trial and running for his life, but suddenly he was able to sleep. When he awoke, he knew the Lord had sustained him (3:5). In other words, he remembered that God is able to guard him even where he himself might fail to look; he realized God is able to sustain his life, even when he might otherwise die. He saw once more that salvation belongs to the LORD (3:8). Human strength was not going to win the day.
When God answers us, we also find that His attributes, the very ones we declared to Him, become crystal clear in our current circumstances. David boldly proclaimed that even ten thousand armed men following Absalom were not going to cause him to fear! When God answers our prayer, He brings all our circumstances under the lens of His incredible power and faithfulness. In the end, however small and still it is, God’s voice drowns out all others when we wait for His answer.
-Pastor Alex