“They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.” Psalm 115:6 ESV
Reflection: how is it possible to have ears, but not be able to hear?
My wife told me some years ago that I needed a hearing test. Because, she claimed, that many times she would be telling me something, and later I acted as if I had not heard a word she said. And, I must admit she was right, that at times she needed to repeat herself. So, I agreed to do a test, only to find out that there was nothing wrong with my hearing. So why could I not hear her at times? My wife calls it “selective hearing”. The truth is that at times I get busy in my own thoughts. So it isn’t necessarily that I am tuning her out, as much as it is being focused in my own thoughts. Let’s just say I am working on being a better listener.
And most of us probably know this to be true, that it is hard to focus on multiple things at once, such as hearing multiple conversations. Let’s say you sit at a table talking with a friend, and you overhear something more interesting being said by someone else, it is impossible to really stay focused on both conversations. We start “tuning out” what is less interesting, and “tuning in” what we want to hear or focus on. While not exactly equivalent, we can also “tune in” spiritually. You might remember that Jesus talked about this multiple times, saying “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”Matthew 11:15 ESV. I remember growing up always thinking this was such an odd statement. So let’s analyze a bit.
First, the reference is clearly not about the ability to hear physically. It is about hearing and understanding spiritually, and about spiritual discernment. Notice there are two dimensions to Jesus statement. First, he says that “if you have ears”, which means if you have the Holy Spirit. Clearly, without “ears” no one can hear. Similarly, without the Holy Spirit, we cannot hear God. We cannot understand things of God without the Holy Spirit. He explained this to the Pharisees “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.””John 8:47 ESV.
And secondly, even if we have the Holy Spirit, we might not be listening. We might have Him “tuned out”, being more focused on other things. More “interesting” conversations, perhaps. Therefore Jesus says, such as in Revelation “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’” Revelation 2:7 ESV We cannot just assume that we have a full spiritual understanding, we must “hear what the Spirit says” to us. The spiritual “world” is dynamic, just as dynamic and changing as the physical world. Jesus said “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”John 14:26 ESV
Not hearing God is not new. In our focus verse today, we see the psalmist writing about it. Let’s read the full context “Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” Psalm 115:2-8 ESV. Did you notice that those who make and worship idols become like them? They cannot hear, see, touch, feel, etc; they are spiritually dead. And therefore trying to explain things of God to some people can be very frustrating; even hurtful if you find yourself in a spiritual battle.
So what are we to do? The psalmist tells all of God’s people, “O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.” Psalm 115:9-11 ESV. Let’s hear what the Holy Spirit says, and trust in the Lord.