THE GOD WHO SPEAKS
How does God speak to mankind today?
In Psalm 19 we have a beautiful picture of God communicating with us through His creation. We are told that “the heavens declare the glory of God and the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world”. Who could look at the starry heavens or the rising and setting of the sun without acknowledging the wisdom, the majesty and the power of a creator?
Elsewhere in the Psalms, we read of David contemplating the heavens, describing them as “the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars which You have set in place”. He then asks, “what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that you care for him?” David realised that God was not only the creator of the vast universe, but also that He was deeply concerned with each one of us. God is not only the God of the heavens, He is also the God of the heart.
Looking again at Psalm 19, we learn of an even more intimate and personal way in which God communicates with us and that is through His precious word. We read in verses
7-11, “the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold, they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping of them there is great reward”.
These precious promises of God’s word are given to us by a loving and merciful God whose ultimate revelation is the Lord Jesus, who came into the world to save sinners like you and me. In John 5:24 the Saviour said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears My word
and believes Him who sent me, has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life”.
How then does God communicate with us? He speaks to us through His creation and through nature. But we need more than these things to form a meaningful relationship with God. We need a revelation of His character and His will for us, and this is found in the Bible. It is in the pages of Scripture that we learn of God’s great love for mankind and how He has made provision for sinners to be forgiven through simple faith in the Lord Jesus and His death upon the cross where He bore our sins.
We would all do well to pray the prayer that David offered at the end of Psalm 19. He says, “May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer”.
So we see that God has spoken to us in His creation, in His word by revelation, and in His Son by salvation.
This article was written by Pastor Geoffrey Davies. He is a frequent contributor to this column. He lives in Melbourne, Australia, where he pastored a church for over twenty-five years. Since 1983 he has travelled widely, continuing his ministry of encouragement and Bible teaching.
