II. TRUTH SPEAKS INWARDLY WITHOUT THE SOUND OF WORDS

THE DISCIPLE

SPEAK, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.”[25] “I am Thy servant. Give me understanding that I may know Thine ordinances[26] . . . Incline my heart to Thine ordinances[27] . . . Let Thy speech distil as the dew.”[28]

The children of Israel once said to Moses: “Speak thou to us and we will hear thee: let not the Lord speak to us, lest we die.”[29]

Not so, Lord, not so do I pray. Rather with Samuel the prophet I entreat humbly and earnestly: “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” Do not let Moses or any of the prophets speak to me; but You speak, O Lord God, Who inspired and enlightened all the prophets; for You alone, without them, can instruct me perfectly, whereas they, without You, can do nothing. They, indeed, utter fine words, but they cannot impart the spirit. They do indeed speak beautifully, but if You remain silent they cannot inflame the heart. They deliver the message; You lay bare the sense. They place before us mysteries, but You unlock their meaning. They proclaim commandments; You help us to keep them. They point out the way; You give strength for the journey. They work only outwardly; You instruct and enlighten our hearts. They water on the outside; You give the increase.

They cry out words; You give understanding to the hearer.

Let not Moses speak to me, therefore, but You, the Lord my God, everlasting truth, speak lest I die and prove barren if I am merely given outward advice and am not inflamed within; lest the word heard and not kept, known and not loved, believed and not obeyed, rise up in judgment against me.

Speak, therefore, Lord, for Your servant listens. “Thou hast the words of eternal life.”[30] Speak to me for the comfort of my soul and for the amendment of my life, for Your praise, Your glory, and Your everlasting honor.

 

A whole bunch of Biblical quotes here, all by different people of God– Samuel and David, namely, who ask the Lord to speak to them directly. The best way to have God speak to us in the silence of our hearts is to ask Him directly, so as not to hear the words He has for us from anywhere but Him. God is the only inspirer of all of the prophets; without God, the prophets are nothing. The prophets simply bear the words of God. It is God, and He alone, who gives the meaning behind the words, gives the understanding to those who worship Him. We should then humbly ask for the Lord God to speak to us directly rather than through the words of these prophets, as it is through God’s words that the fire is lit within our souls.

 

–jl–