Language for God

Tower of Babel: Genesis 11:1-9

At some point all humans had the same language. But, as happened often times, they used that advantage for sin and to defy God. So God, made the various languages. I sat down and wondered: why can God hear my hymn? There are two possibilities to consider and you may have others.

Certainly, God can understand all the languages in the world as there is nothing of which God is not capable (God is all-knowing and all powerful), or

Maybe it is that God goes beyond the physical nature of language and instead understands what our hearts are saying. This is what I will suggest.

Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Ephesians:5:19-20 "As you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

But let’s start with the basics and understand what language usually means to us. I’ve been blessed to have traveled to many places around the world. Along the way, I’ve heard languages from Tagalog (Philippines), Chinese and Japanese to Dutch, French, and Italian. I’ve also heard dialects from certain American-Indian tribes that bear no resemblance to other tongues. If one breaks language down, without the bias of some known meaning, all we get is a series of noises uttered through a combination of sounds stemming from the way we expel air through our vocal chords, nose, teeth, lips, and tongue. But we know what those sounds mean because as a collective whole we have given them meaning. So as I speak this sentence, you know what I am saying because we have collectively agreed on the meaning that these noises are conveying. For example, the English language is a Germanic language derivative that developed for some time around the English Isles then spread to other parts of the world such as US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. Likewise, Spanish is a Latin language derivative developed in parts of Spain then spread to places like South/Central America and Mexico. Wherever these new languages were taken, people had to learn the rules. Now finally, in our verbal communications, there is a speaker and a "hearer".

Now let’s talk about our conversations with God. Clearly, God understands when we petition through prayer in any language translation of the bible. Phillippians 4:6-7 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." It is also the case, that God’s ways are not our ways: Isaiah 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." In fact, when we exercise our blessing of speaking to, or worshipping, God in our daily lives-through the grace and love afforded to us through Jesus Christ- God is beyond the needs of our physical speech. Instead God listens to our heart and soul from which we can neither escape nor lie. John 4:23,24: "But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Try as we might we cannot hide from the reach of his presence. Psalms 90:8: "You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your countenance." So God listens, not necessarily to our speech or language, but to the heart-felt expressions of our soul.

The question now becomes, how is this language of the heart and soul perceived by God and our neighbors? To answer this question let’s start with the book of James 2:26 "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead." James equates the very foundation of our being (the spirit) with the externalization of our faith (works). In other words, the spirit is the character of our body, without which we would be nothing. Likewise, works are the character of our faith, without which it would be meaningless. This is beginning to tell us that we express our worship and love of the Lord, not through mere words, but through our actions. Hebrews 11 elucidates the good works of faith throughout the ages with examples from great people of the old testament. But, let’s look further into James 1:25 "But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act-they will be blessed in their doing." The very essence of that true connection with God carries us to good works as we believe in him. God then aids us as we walk in his path. By the same token, Hebrews 13:15,16 finishes off by saying "Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." Philippians 2:13 further says, "For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure".

You see the language that God hears is:

Not heard or deciphered through ears.

Is expressed and heard by God and others through our daily actions, words, and love.

Not uttered through vocal chords, nose, teeth, lips, or tongue.

Is felt and lived through our soul and heart.

Finally, though we believe with our hearts and our souls to establish a personal connection with the all-powerful creator, we must also confess that we do so. Romans 10:10 "For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved."

(contributed by Jorge Monreal)