I noticed that after sitting and reading silently for an hour that the birds were too timid to come to the full tubular-shaped feeder nearby. The sunflower seed were not enough to overcome their fear. Their need was not elevated enough on this hot summer morning when nature offers its own buffets. But when I began to read a devotion into my iPhone in order to send it to a friend, my voice became a song to comfort the fear of the goldfinch. The sparrow felt safe to flutter over to the feeder. The chickadee sang back its own song in harmony with my voice. And when I heard it, I looked up from my dictation. The chickadee fled. But in my experience — the most timid of all — the goldfinch, kept on intently about its work of feasting. I paused my reading and actually said out loud — recorded into the microphone for perpetuity: “The birds are responding to my voice!” and then I thought, “They must hear as music — like a birdsong.” And then, as the Spirit ministered to me in that moment, I wrote this devotion you are now reading.
Of course — to the bird — these were but the sounds of some strange creature — a human song. But as the devotion rang out its true words of wisdom from holy script, I felt comforted, too. I felt safe as well. And for good reason; the music of Scripture soothes my soul.
“The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” Psalm 29:4
“When he (Jesus, the Shepherd) has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:4
By Stephen Williams © June 25, 2022