Listening, Part 1

At the last conference I attended in Indiana, I became better acquainted with a minister that I met there before. He is Pastor Larry Lilly. I now regularly receive a devotional he sends out entitled Larry Lilly’s Letter. Here is a quote from his letter of 8April 2008 that struck me. It deals with the subject of listening.

Proverbs 1:5, "A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:" Basically the proverb means that wise people increase their wisdom through energized listening. Far too many people appear to be listening but in fact their mind is wandering off to some experience past or desired, they are fondly walking down some memory lane and fail to grasp a mere modicum of what the speaker is saying, let alone grasp any meaning. To be sure the speaker has a responsibility to arrest attention, but only the very best speakers and teachers managed to do this consistently, so the burden for increased knowledge, or wisdom falls to the listener, for even boring speakers often say profound things. Certainly we have listened to tremendously exciting speakers who upon examination have said nothing, but they did say it eloquently.

I can certainly relate to what Pastor Lilly is saying. I have heard men with poor speaking skills set forth very informative subject matter. Even our beloved apostle Paul was “rude in speech, yet not in knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:6). On the other hand, I have heard men who were lively, witty, eloquent speakers that taught me nothing. Their speeches were only so much fluff. I once knew a Primitive Baptist deacon that had this to say about these kinds of speakers: “They have diarrhea of the mouth and constipation of the thought.”

I was struck with Pastor Lilly’s point that “the burden for increased knowledge, or wisdom falls to the listener.” That is so true! While a speaker should strive to make his presentation as interesting and arresting as he can, it is ultimately up to you to make the effort to listen.

Now “what saith the Scripture” with respect to this subject? God does indeed hold you responsible to be energetic listeners, as Brother Lilly put it. Consider these verses:

Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God.

Isaiah 55:2 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

You are commanded to hearken diligently. Doing so will bring rich blessings into your life. It should be obvious from these verses that listening has a great deal to do with the quality of your life. Now true to form, let’s define what it means to hearken diligently.

Hearken – To apply the ears to hear; to listen, give ear. To apply the mind to what is said; to attend, have regard; to listen with sympathy or docility (readiness to receive instruction).

Diligently – With constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistent application and endeavour.

To hearken is to listen. But this involves more than just letting sounds come into your ears. Hearkening also involves applying your mind to what you hear. It involves the power of concentration. To hearken diligently is to listen with constant and earnest effort. You have to make a serious effort to listen with concentration upon what you hear, and that constantly. Otherwise, your mind will wander and you will miss what God holds you responsible to hear. And the failure to listen will bring judgment upon you as these verses plainly declare:

Deuteronomy 18:18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.

Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

This subject matter is expanding in my mind. I shall have more to say about it in another meditation, God willing. The thing I want to impress upon you today is that God commands you to listen with concentration to what He has to say. When a man is speaking to you on behalf of God, you had better listen, even if His speaking skills may not be the best. It is your responsibility to listen. The quality of your life depends upon whether you do so or not.