Psalm 14

"Only fools say in their hearts, 'There is no God.'"

King David, Psalm 14:1

"My business is not to prove to any other man that there is a God, but to find Him for myself."

- George MacDonald

I don't know about you, but in my home, the older I get… the louder Candace gets (Smile). And, bless her heart, it's all my fault! You see, Candace is, by nature, a very gentle, quiet, soft-spoken person, but my incessant loss of hearing, over the years, has forced her to raise her voice in our conversations just to be heard. The other day, I said to her...

"Sweetheart, you know what I miss?"

"What?!", she shouted.

"A whisper," I said, "I miss a whisper."

This morning, I listened to King David's rant about his world in Psalm 14. As the people have grown increasingly deaf to God's gracious invitation to know Him and to walk with Him, David has become increasingly louder in his passion to reach them.

Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their actions are evil;

not one of them does good!

- Psalm 14:1

The exclamation point at the end of that verse reveals both the volume and the deep angst behind David's frustration. It is a loud psalm! For David, the evil, the unbelief, the rebellion, the wickedness, the injustice, the violence… because it all seemed to turn up the volume in his world… David found himself yelling, trying to silence the bad news by shouting the good news. I think, if you asked him, he would have said, "You know what I miss the most? A whisper… the whisper of God's voice."

You remember the story of Elijah? The great prophet has just soundly defeated the powerful false prophets of the pagan god, Baal. Fresh off his victory parade, he hears that the barbaric queen, Jezebel, has just put out a contract on his life. The Bible says, "Elijah was afraid and ran for his life" (1 Kings 19:1-13). Isn't it true? We all have an Achilles heel. We can be so strong and confident in multiple areas of our life, but there is that one area, that one problem, that one person that magnifies our weakness, exposes our vulnerability, and shatters our confidence. I call this "The Jezebel Effect."

So, Elijah runs and hides in a cave.

Hypothetical disasters are loud. Exaggerated fears bark at us and bully us into sleepless nights. Thankfully, the very thing our fears shout to drown out… the voice of the LORD… is infinitely more powerful than all the threats to silence it.

God invites Elijah to step out of the cave. A powerful wind comes by… but God is not in the wind. A loud earthquake happens… but God is not in the earthquake. A fire races by… but God is not in the fire. "But after the fire came a gentle whisper"... the whisper of God's voice.

Why did God whisper? He whispers because He's close! Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, Emmanuel, is the God of Heaven and Earth right next to you! He has defeated the devil, death, darkness, and your greatest fear!

Listen, Jesus doesn't defeat your enemy by shouting louder. He defeats your enemy by drawing closer to You!

Do you miss the whisper… the whisper of God's voice? If the bad news is louder than the good news in your world today, step out of your cave, look up at the majesty of the heavens, and hear Jesus whisper…

..."I am with You." (Ps.14:5)

..."I will protect You." (Ps.14:6)

..."I will rescue You." (Ps.14:7)

..."I will restore You." (Ps.14:7)

AMEN

Pastor Harry

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