God Spoke to Me

Psalm 16:7 (ESV)

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

“God spoke to me”. We all know believers who say this to indicate that God has given them some special instruction, or perhaps a prophetic understanding of something, or even an audible voice directing them or teaching them. We all want to hear from God and there are many skeptics who maintain that if God would speak to them and prove His existence then they would believe as well.

The fact of the matter is, however that God does indeed speak to every believer. As the verse from Psalm 16 says, God gives us counsel. And He is not selective with it. He gives it to all who are His. He even speaks to some unbelievers who yet refuse to listen.

God speaks through His Word. The 66 Books of the Old and New Testaments are the Word of God. They are the God breathed instruction that we are able to hear and benefit from because the Holy Spirit, who lives within, gives us the ability to make sense of the Bible. God speaks to us. The reason the Bible is called “the Word” is because it is God speaking. The fact that many professing Christians find that the Scriptures are not enough of a message from God to count as God speaking to them is an indictment upon their faith, their understanding of the Scriptures, their satisfaction with the God inspired Truth that the Bible is, and their ability to apply the Bible to their lives in a manner that would conclude that voices may be nice, but they certainly are not necessary.

The verse in Psalm 16 does not just say that God speaks. It says that He gives counsel. Paul, in the New Testament, way of says that it thoroughly equips us for every good work. There is nothing in life that the Bible is not able to counsel us through. It is sufficient. Christians who find that the Bible is not enough for them and that they need more direction, words not contained in the Scriptures, visions beyond what God has given in the Word, prophecies about the intricacies of their daily lives, are misunderstanding the Word, its glory, its all sufficiency, its power, its joy giving words.

None of this means that we do not need teachers and counsellors and preachers to help us manage. But these people are to teach and preach and counsel according to the Scriptures. The test of the value of their words is God’s Word.

In the second half of Psalm 16:7 David says that in the night his heart instructs them. He receives counsel from God and then rehearses it in the night. He gets the Word of God in his head and then uses it for the good of his heart in the night. He plans for the next day with what the instruction that the Word has given him.

What a great lesson for us! Get the Word in and go over it, recite it, apply it and pray it into the heart. How could anyone ever want more than what God has provided in the completed Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, our Bible?

He has given us everything we need for life and godliness. And it all goes back to the Bible and all it tells us about Him, us, and what He has done to redeem us from our sin. Hear God speak to you today. Get into the Scriptures. Who could ask for anything more?