Listening For God

Listening For God
Thursday, February 8, 2018 by Dr. Paul D. Norcross

The "sweet-spot" of all Christian living is in loving communion with The Lord Jesus Christ and with our Father.

It is as if time stops the moment your spirit hears Him speak to you! His words are always as David declared:

“How sweet are thy words (emrah = speaking) unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)

“I rejoice at thy word (emrah = speaking), as one that findeth great spoil.” (Psalm 119:162)

David is saying that the words which The Lord spoke to him were his most valued treasure. Hearing the voice of The Lord was what he lived for, and it is why God called him a man after God's own heart.

The Hebrew word emrah simply means "a speaking," and (along with the word dabar), is very parallel to the meaning of rhema in the New Testament.

These words specifically refer to speaking words, not written words.

Thus, it is extremely significant when we learn what Psalm 138:2 is really saying:

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word (emrah) above all thy name.” (Psalm 138:2)

It is certainly true that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), and that all Scripture came as holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). Thus, all Scripture came as a speaking into the spirit of those who wrote down what they heard under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

So what did God really mean by telling us that He magnified His speaking above His name?

The same as He meant in inspiring the Apostle Paul to write in Romans 10:17:

"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema = speaking) of God."

My point is that God most values His personal relationship with you. Yes, you and me!

What characterizes all human relationships is dialogue -- verbal communications.

It is how friendships are made and strengthened.

Conversational words are the basis of all of our relationships. And they are the basis of our relationship with our Creator as well. I often share that our Heavenly Father and our dear Lord Jesus Christ want us not only to know the Author's written words, but to actually know The Author of those words.

This was David's heart in so many of his psalms. A day in His courts truly was, to David, worth a thousand. Why? Because of the communion exchanged through speaking with and listening to The Lord.

“Thy word (dabar = speaking) is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105)

Psalm 119 contains 19 uses of emrah and 24 occurrences of dabar. Each of these verses refer to God speaking with David. It was an everyday thing with him.

It was to David the key to the door that no man can open, and no one can shut of Revelation 3:7 and Isaiah 22:22.

The reason why Jesus Christ spoke of Himself as being the bread from heaven, referring to the daily feeding on manna in the wilderness wandering (John 6:30-68), was because His words which He will speak to you ARE spirit and they ARE life (rhema words -- John 6:63) and they ARE the rhema speaking of eternal life (John 6:68).

Speaking is how the bride is prepared (via the washing of the water of the rhema word of Ephesians 5;26-27).

No wonder Jesus declared in Matthew 4:4 that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every rhema word that proceeds from the mouth of God!

No wonder this speaking is what God magnified above His name!

To learn more, see Dining At The Master's Table: Learning To Hear The Voice Of The Lord

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