Don't tune God out.

A few days ago I was reading from Exodus 17. 

The following day, I was reading from Psalm 95. 

(I’m not jumping around in my Bible, reading anything I want… I’m actually following a YouVerison Bible plan. They have great plans, you can check them out here. 

As I was reading Ex. 17, my mind jumped to Psalm 95, and as I was reading Psalm 95, my mind jumped to Ex. 17. 

I hope you can guess that the two passages are connected. 

First, Exodus 17: “At the Lord’s command, the whole community of Israel left the wilderness of Sin and moved from place to place. Eventually they camped at Rephidim, but there was no water there for the people to drink. 2 So once more the people complained against Moses. “Give us water to drink!” they demanded.

“Quiet!” Moses replied. “Why are you complaining against me? And why are you testing the Lord?”

3 But tormented by thirst, they continued to argue with Moses. “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst?”

4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What should I do with these people? They are ready to stone me!”

5 The Lord said to Moses, “Walk out in front of the people. Take your staff, the one you used when you struck the water of the Nile, and call some of the elders of Israel to join you. 6 I will stand before you on the rock at Mount Sinai. Strike the rock, and water will come gushing out. Then the people will be able to drink.” So Moses struck the rock as he was told, and water gushed out as the elders looked on.

7 Moses named the place Massah (which means “test”) and Meribah (which means “arguing”) because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord here with us or not?”  (NLT2)

Now, Psalm 95:  Come, let us sing to the Lord!

    Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come to him with thanksgiving.

    Let us sing psalms of praise to him.

3 For the Lord is a great God,

    a great King above all gods.

4 He holds in his hands the depths of the earth

    and the mightiest mountains.

5 The sea belongs to him, for he made it.

    His hands formed the dry land, too.

6 Come, let us worship and bow down.

    Let us kneel before the Lord our maker,

7  for he is our God.

We are the people he watches over,

    the flock under his care.

If only you would listen to his voice today!

8 The Lord says, “Don’t harden your hearts as Israel did at Meribah, as they did at Massah in the wilderness.

9 For there your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw everything I did.

10  For forty years I was angry with them, and I said,

‘They are a people whose hearts turn away from me.

    They refuse to do what I tell them.’

11 So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’ (NLT2)

While, there is SOOO much truth in these passages, I was struck by one thing in particular, and that is verse 8 of Psalm 95. In the NIV84 edition, it reads like this: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day in Masssah in the desert….”  

Why did that catch my attention? Well, the people had the Lord God Almighty with them leading them into new territory, and yet, they had allowed their hearts to become calloused. They had become angry. They were bitter.  They were cranky. 

The Children of God had allowed their hearts to become so bitter and hardened that they didn't hear the voice of God. 

Then, there is this verse in Hebrews 3;12: “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (NIV) (Actually, verses 7-19 also talk about these Old Testament passages as well…)

My aim for this post is to say that it is possible for God’s people to actually tune Him out. It’s not recommended, but it is possible.

We can be so busy doing for God, that we forget that we are actually supposed to BE with God. 

We can forget that we are supposed to listen to Jesus, to listen for the Holy Spirit’s promptings. To, as Psalm 46:10 says: “Be STILL and know that I am God.”

We are actually to take time to slow down and listen to, and for the Voice of God. It takes work, but it is worth the effort. 

“Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts….”

Cant seem to get that line out of my head… I don’t want to be in a place that my heart becomes hard and I stop hearing the voice of God. It’s simply not worth it. 

So take a moment right now and ask God to search your heart and ask Him to help you listen to and for His voice.