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Psalm 49:3 tells us that meditation shall give us understanding as God speaks to us. (In the Strong’s concordance understanding is defined: intelligence, discretion, wisdom, reason) and those traits do appear to all and are profitable to those seeking answers and counsel.

"This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."  We are to "observe to do" so that would mean one of the purposes of meditation is so that we can put into action what we have learned .Joshua 1:8 God tells us we are to meditate on His Words day and night.  He then tells us in the next verse: "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."  I know for me if I do not have my tent of meetings with God--my times of meditation listening to God-- on a regular basis I am not strong in courage, I am fearful and I get dismayed.  We have seen thus far that meditation is for feeding to get understanding of what we should do, should be, how we should act...wisdom/common sense/horse sense...as my daddy would have called it. 

"Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my meditation."  Psalm 5:1

In an article entitled "Hearing God" by Lynn Renegar, she writes:

"How do we tune in?
If God is going to be heard clearly, we must live in a habitation of mediation upon His word. We must immerse ourselves in the Scriptures, basing our thinking upon His Word, filling ourselves with it; letting His Living Water wash our minds clean of the world’s distortions of reality. Then, when through His Word He speaks to us, we are in the right state of mind to receive what He says.

Hebrews 4:12  "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."

Those words describe Jesus’ dealings with us as the Word of God. The first test of whether I’ve really heard God speak to me is to check what was said against the written Word. The first two screening questions must be: does this add to the written Word of God? Does this contradict what He has already said? If it disagrees with the Scriptures, it is not of Him.

Paul wrote some harsh words to the Galatians. Galatians 1:8-9  "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."

In verse 9 he repeats the same thing. Twice over in two verses. When angels come to visit, we aren’t to drop the Bible and receive them without question. Rather, we should say, "sit down, angel, let me check what you say with the scripture." God’s Word is the last word. If what we’re hearing doesn’t line up with the Word of God, it’s not His Word. There’s more out there than the Holy Spirit; we dare not walk in this world except in the Spirit. Without His protection we can get really weird; we can commit gross sin. Every confused and amateur Christian is in that condition due to ignorance or disregard of God’s written Word. Listening to God never means seeking extra-Biblical revelations. If what we hear really is God speaking in our hearts, it will be encompassed in a principle already written in the Word of God. He will be showing us a Biblical principle to apply to our lives today. Jesus was saturated in the Scripture; he quoted it continually. In this, as in all things, He is our model.

So does God ever speak outside of His written Word? Well, if you consider there are countries where no Bibles are allowed, I would dare say God has ways of speaking to His people who are in those dark places. They don’t have a Bible. But isn’t it interesting, that those people who first hear God without the Scripture, will risk their physical lives to lay hands on a Bible. God reveals Himself through His Spirit. In the actual experience of hearing God speak to us, He may speak to us in an inner voice, or while we are listening to teachers, or He may say something to us deeper or not even connected with the sermon we are listening to, but although He can speak to us through circumstances, collectively and individually, anything we hear which we attribute to Him must be in harmony with His objective and living Word.

God’s communion with us is ongoing. Within that on-going-ness there are moments when you don’t know where to stand or where to turn. As Isaiah says, "you turn to the right, you turn to the left; you hear this voice behind you saying, this is the way walk in it." Go on, walk in it. He’s telling you. This is the Christian walk.

Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of God rule in your hearts..."

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