For Those Who Need to Hear God Speak

“My son, comply with the commandment of your father, and do not ignore the teaching of your mother; Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; When you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk to you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is light; and rebukes for discipline are the way of life” (Proverbs 6:20-23, NASB)

Do you see God as a friend, or as a distant entity? Do you see His commands as necessities to your life, or as guidelines often ignored? 

The mark of a maturing Christian is the one who embraces the Lord’s teachings as life-giving guidance and turns to God in joy and exuberance in communion. When you see God’s counsel as if it were trusted advice from your best friend, you know you’re in a good place. You’ve drawn near to the Lord not as a wish-fulfiller or a militant box-checker, but as a sister or a faithful companion. 

In Proverbs 6, Solomon once again implores his son to listen to the wisdom of his parents. He again calls his attention to the commandments of a father, the teachings of a mother, and beseeches him to bind that guidance to his heart or tie them about his neck. Now, obviously, he’s not saying this in a literal sense, but rather to meditate on God’s wisdom given to the son via his parents. Solomon encourages his son to trust the wisdom he’s gained both through experience and through his own searching out of godly knowledge.

Why? Because in the ideal sense of the Christian family, God gives children good parents that have studied God’s word and have spiritual knowledge to pass on to their children. Those lessons given by faithful mothers and fathers can be trusted and applied. They are precious lessons to be inscribed on the hearts of sons and daughters and worn upon our sleeves. 

It’s an important principle in Godly living and parenting: train a child up in the way that they should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). We always get that verse from the parents perspective, but here in Proverbs 6, we see the merits of embracing a parent’s teaching from the child’s point of view.

When you walk, they will guide you.

First, we see God’s word and His teachings as a guide. Do you feel like you’re walking this path of faith we’ve been referencing these past weeks as we go through Proverbs? Or do you feel you’re somewhere off the path in a gulley or a tangled thicket? Are you stumbling in the dark? The awesome promise this verse gives us is that God’s wisdom through His Word is a guide. It doesn’t speak about where you are in your faith. If you’re on the path of righteousness, then God’s teachings will continue to lead the way– steering, directing, and showing the way. If you feel you’ve strayed from that path, and are trying to make your way back, then His wisdom still guides you. 

It shines a light on our sin. It corrects us where we need some hard truth, and it herds us back on track. The caveat is to be exposed to God’s Word and people that will encourage us to be sanctified by that guiding light.

When you sleep, they will watch over you.

Godly wisdom also acts as a guardian. It watches over us and keeps us. If we apply it and live by it, there is no persecution or evil that can stand against us. Might we have times where our faith needs strengthening? Absolutely, but if we turn to the Lord in those times, we will find ourselves strengthened and protected against acting in our flesh. Will we still face temptations and struggles? Yes, but we can use scripture as a guard rail against schemes of the devil that will seek to yank us into a rut.

This is not to say by any means that Christians don’t face heartache, turmoil, or hard times. We certainly do, but as we walk in the midst of it, we can lean on God to be a comfort and a defender for us, even when our flesh makes us angry, depressed, or out of control. We still have a God that watches over us and makes all things work together for His good.

And when you awake, they will talk to you.

Finally, God’s teachings are companions. How deep His love for us is, that we can turn to Him as a friend and have Him speak to us. So often in the modern church, we see people begging God for a “fresh word” or a “new revelation.” They want to hear a prophecy or receive some sort of free, individualized word from the Lord. 

The Bible communicates! You need a friend? Find one there, his name is Jesus. You need a fresh word from the Lord? Open it up and read it; it’s got plenty of words from the Lord. God speaks through His Word. Those spiritual giants you look up to in your life– the ones that always seem to know just the right verse– they all read, know, and bind that material to their hearts.

Charles Spurgeon said, “[The Bible] has told me a great many of my faults; it would tell you yours if you would let it. It has told me much to comfort me; and it has much to tell you if you will but incline your ear to it. It is a book that is wonderfully communicative; it knows all about you, all the ins and outs of where you are, and where you ought to be, it can tell you everything.”

What a wonderfully intimate and precious friend we have in Jesus. He guides us, He guards us, and He speaks to us. And yes, Solomon is right in saying that having spiritually mature moms and dads are an incredible resource to a Christian, but if one is not made available to you, you still have God’s word. You still have God the Father pouring out spiritual wisdom and truth from His Holy Word. Those commands are a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths.

Many lean away from the correction of the Lord, but it is a gift. It is a part of hearing Him speak to us, and of growing in our faith. If all we hear from the Lord is pats on the back and soft, non-offending words, then we are not subscribing to true Christianity. The Christian life as God designed it is made to disciple, and part of that is discipline. This way of life is going to call us out and draw us close to Him. It is going to challenge our flesh and require that we address it. 

All the best friends do it. And there is no better friend than this God that guides us in His Truth and Life, guards us with His teachings, and speaks to us plainly and in love, just like a trusted companion.