On Listening

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” ~Deuteronomy 6:4-5

Most of us aren’t good listeners, at least not in the biblical sense of the term. How often have you been introduced to someone only to ask, “Tell me your name, again?” or been given instructions only to think, “Now, what was I supposed to do?” This malady is (usually) not owing to forgetfulness or auditory degeneration but is (usually) rather a listening issue. Think of the first scenario: the person whose name you have “forgotten.” Was the problem that you didn’t hear (a mechanical issue with your ear), that you couldn’t remember (a potential sign of trouble with your mind), or that you weren’t listening at all (a failure to devote your full attention to the speaker)? I would venture to say that for most of us, and most often, it’s the latter. 

How about in worship? Do you listen to God’s Word read and preached to receive all the truth and conviction and grace you can get, or are you merely letting the sound waves enter your ears, effectively stopping God’s Word at the door to your heart? Perhaps it’s a bit worse than that: maybe you are listening in the typical sense of the term (you are hearing and even understanding what’s being said), but you find yourself thinking about how this most applies to your neighbor rather than accepting it and cherishing in and storing it up in your own heart (Psalm 119:11). It seems that for many church-goers, we are happy to hear, but maybe not to listen, and even less, to apply.

The word listen in the Bible has a deeper meaning than merely “hearing what’s been said.” The word used in Deuteronomy 6:4 is Shema, which means “to listen with understanding and obey.” It is to receive with full attention (“listen with understanding”) and the intention of putting into practice that which you have heard (“and obey”). William McEwen (1735-1762) describes how the Christian ought to receive the preached Word: “What he hears, he understands; what he understands, he remembers; what he remembers, he loves; what he loves, he believes; what he believes, he practices. His life is a continual sermon. Not being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word, he shall be blessed in his deed.” Is this how you “listen” to God’s Word each Lord’s Day? 

My friends, we have hearing assist devices at our church to help those with mechanical issues of the ear. We catechize through repetition as we recite creeds, confessions, and sing familiar hymns and psalms, thus aiding those with memory issues. But we can’t do anything to help you listen in the biblical sense of the term. For that, you must spend time with the Lord in prayer, asking Him to lay hold of your heart and convict you of sin and conform you into the image of His Son. To that end, let us all devote ourselves to Shema-ing this Sunday, that we might hear, understand, and obey. 

Rev. Kyle Lockhart, Pastor of Teaching & Spiritual Formation