Questions for Littles: To whom did he cry, with what? What was this crying out like (vv2-3)? What troubles him in v3a? Who was holding his eyelids open (v4)? What couldn’t he do because of how troubled he was (v4b)? What did he try to remember in response (v5-6, v10-12)? What did he conclude was absolutely impossible (v7-9)? Why is it impossible that God’s love and grace would fail (v13-14)? What is the greatest example of this (v15)? What Old Testament display of saving power was a primary picture of the cross (v16-20)? What does this psalm describe as the nature of the strong east wind at the Red Sea (vv16-19, cf. Ex 14:21)? Yet, amidst all this trembling, flashing, and thundering, how does v20 describe what God was doing?In the sermon text this week, God highlighted the Exodus, when He “led His people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”
Our attention spans are pretty short, so we might miss out on the amazement of seeing that last verse in light of the first. The psalmist himself communicates that amazement by the repetition in the first line… “with my voice!”
The God who parted the Red Sea listens to the sound waves being compressed out of our mouths! And not just our voices, but my voice. To be sure, this is a Psalm for corporate worship. We learn as much in the superscript (which is v1 in the Hebrew), where the Chief Musician receives the assignment of incorporating this Psalm into the worship of the people of God.
But one of the things that the people of God are learning together in this Psalm is that the Lord listens to each of us individually. I cried out to God with MY voice, to God with MY voice; and He gave ear to ME… MY trouble… MY hand… MY soul… I remembered… I complained… MY spirit… and so on.
It can be terrifying, when going through a difficult time, to think that God is having personal dealings with us. So, here is a Psalm set in one of the Psalmist’s most difficult times. And we see that one of the reasons that God put him through this was so that he would learn that God personally listens to the sound of his voice.
It is an amazing thing to be one of the people of God. The Creator of all that exists heeds the sound of my voice. I speak, and it moves the Hand that rules over all things and overrules in all things.
Do you know that amazement? Has it occurred to you, in the most difficult of circumstances, that the Lord is prompting you unto prayer, so that you may learn by experience that you have the ear of Him whose Hand rules over all?
In what situation in your life is God teaching you to call on Him with your voice?Suggested Songs: ARP77A “My Voice to God, Aloud I Plead” or HB385 “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”
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