I Kings 19:9-13a
If you are like most Christians you have asked this
question at some point – “How can I know for sure
I’m hearing God’s voice?”
God has spoken to His people many times and in
many ways.
He spoke to Moses through a burning bush.
He spoke to Balaam through his donkey.
He spoke to Isaiah through a seraphim in the
temple.
He spoke to Paul on the road to Damascus.
And He still speaks today.
Our text for this morning is found in I Kings 19:9-18.
Elijah is on the run because Ahab has told Jezabel about
how Elijah had killed 450 prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel
by calling out to his God who brought fire down on them
all.
Jezebel wants him dead. She even sent a message to him
warning him that she was going to kill him by the same
time the next day.
Elijah took off to Beersheba and then into the wilderness
and found a broom tree where he asked God to take his
life.
God sent an angel to tell him to get up and eat.
And he provided a cake and water to provide him
strength for 40 days and 40 nights.
And he arrived at Mt. Horeb which is also Mt. Sinai where
God gave Moses the 10 commandments.
It is the same place where God hid Moses in the cleft of
the rock and covered him with His hand and allowed him
to see the back side of his glory.
I Kings 19:9-10
The Lord asks Elijah what he is doing on the mountain.
Of course the Lord knows what he is doing there.
He sent him there when he was under the broom tree.
Elijah doesn’t really answer the question does he?
He reminds the Lord that he is jealous for him.
Let’s talk about that for a moment.
Elijah went to battle with the prophets of Baal knowing
that their god could never measure up to the one true
living God.
Elijah was upset that the people had turned their back on
the Lord and forsaken His covenant.
He feels like he is the only one left that truly follows God.
And he is stressing that Jezabel is seeking to kill him.
What has your experience been after you have had
a mountain top encounter with God?
It’s not easy to come down from the top of the mountain.
But God is ALWAYS with us. He never leaves us or
forsakes us.
God is with us through the Mountains and the
Valleys
I Kings 19:11-13a
God tells Elijah to go out and stand on the mountain
before God.
And Elijah encounters a strong wind that breaks rocks
from the mountain.
But God is not in the wind like He was at Pentecost in
Acts 2.
Then Elijah encounters an earthquake.
But God was not in the earthquake like He was when Paul
and Silas were in prison.
Then Elijah encounters a fire.
But God was not in the fire like He was with Daniel’s
three friends.
Sometimes God uses big events to change peoples’ lives,
but sometimes people reject God’s power and might
anyway.
Think of Paul’s dramatic conversion on the Damascus
road.
Think of the Egyptians and how God used the plagues to
show His power yet Pharaoh and his people still rejected
God.
God doesn’t always speak in the same way over
and over again.
Here the Bible tells us that God spoke to Elijah in a low
whisper.
Low whisper could also be translated thin silence
The KJV translates it “still small voice”
Notice the contrast here between the things that have
just occurred.
Strong winds, earthquakes and fires are all typically loud.
But now God speaks through silence.
Can you hear the voice of God?
Do you know how to recognize when He does speak?
We Must Be Still and Listen for God’s Voice
The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 46:10 that we should be
still and know that He is God.
Are you being still so you can hear God’s voice?
The world gets pretty loud at times and we need to take
time to drown out the noise so we can hear the voice of
our Savior.
There’s a reason we refer to our time with God as quiet
time.
It’s best when we limit distractions so we can truly hear
from Him.
We must also remember that God has revealed Himself to
all of creation and therefore we are all without excuse. cf
Romans 1.
The gospel requires a response. We must either receive
God’s mercy and grace when we hear His low whisper or
reject it and suffer the consequences.
Charles Spurgeon tells the “story of a man, a
blasphemer, profane, an atheist, who was
converted singularly by a sinful action of his. He
had written on a piece of paper, “God is nowhere,
“and bade his child read it, for he would make his
child an atheist too. And the child spelt it,”God is
n-o-w h-e-r-e-God is now here.” It was a truth,
instead of a lie, and the arrow pierced the man’s
own heart.”
God speaks in ways, we should always be watchful for
Him to speak to us.
Notice what Elijah does when he recognizes the voice of
the Lord.
He covers his face in his cloak.
It’s reminiscent of Moses covering his face with a veil
after having met with God.
Elijah is acutely aware that he has heard from God.
And he goes out and stands at the entrance to the cave.
God wants our obedience because He is a jealous God.
Remember the Shema in Deuteronomy 6.
You are probably familiar with verses 4-9 but let’s take a
look at verses 13-15
“It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you
shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You
shall not go after other gods, the gods of the
peoples who are around you – for the Lord your God
in your midst is a jealous God – lest the anger of
the Lord your God be kindled against you, and he
destroy you from off the face of the earth.”
Deuteronomy 6:13-15
APPLICATION
God never stops working.
Because He created us to be in a relationship with Him,
He still speaks to us today.
Our application this morning is to:
Actively Listen for God’s Voice
What are some of the ways He speaks?
Though the preaching of the Word.
Through the readinging of the Word.
Through the Holy Spirit.
Through His children who are walking close to Him.
Through prayer.
Can you remember the last time you heard from the
Lord?
If you can’t remember, I recommend you think back to
the time when you received His grace at the moment of
your salvation.
That is what His voice sounds like.
Remember the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and they
follow Him.