Epiphany: The time between Advent / Christmas and Lent. We mark events in the life of Jesus.
Psalm 29: The Voice of the Lord - this phrase is repeated 7 times in this psalm. What is the voice of the Lord? How do we hear and recognize it? How do we discern people who claim to be hearing the voice of the Lord?
This is one of the oldest psalms.
Three main sections:
vv 1-2 - call to worship
vv 3-9: The voice of the Lord
vv 10-11 - conclusion
The voice of God takes a couple forms:
"vox externa" - the externa, audible voice of God. Read scripture to hear from God.
"vox interna" - the internal, "still small" inaudible internal voice of God.
Is God speaking to me? I don't have experiences like people in Scripture? What does the voice of the Lord sound like to me?
We don't live life with an earpiece through which God speaks to us. This would hamper our process of maturation and our development of a relationship with God.
Practical tips
If we have the wrong motives for seeking to hear from God, we probably won't
Understand our relationship - God is like a parent helping to develop us
God's communication to us comes in a variety of forms
God's internal voice - how do we know / discern it?
Community - the people around us hwo advise, teach, and speak truth to or around us.
Creation - Lots of examples of this in today's psalm
Culture - Novels, songs, poetry, music, art
Conscience - God uses our own thought process.
This one can be tough: How do we know?
Check against scripture, but make sure it's in line with principles vs incidental teachings
Check against the life of Jesus
Check: is it saying somethihg different from "the voice of myself"?