Give ear to my prayer, O God, And do not hide Yourself from my supplication. 2 Attend to me, and hear me; I am restless in my complaint, and moan noisily, 3 Because of the voice of the enemy, Because of the oppression of the wicked; For they bring down trouble upon me, And in wrath they hate me. Psalm 55:1-3 NKJV

In the above text, David was undoubtedly speaking of the rebellion and treachery of Absalom, his son, and Ahithophel, his counselor, who betrayed him.  There are four voices at play in this passage: God’s, the enemy’s, other people, and David’s. Any voice that you listen to and heed without measuring it up to the voice of God’s Word will leave you confused, oppressed, and troubled.

There are four voices that are operative in the realm of life: your voice, the voice of others, the voice of the enemy, and the voice of God.

Everyone has a voice in their own head. It should not be considered crazy to have conversations with yourself. The problem lies in having the wrong conversations: telling ourselves that we are guilty, inferior in some way, or unworthy of God’s best. This is what the prodigal son did after he had fallen to a low desperate place in life. He came to himself and reminded himself with his internal voice of guilt, condemnation, and unworthiness with respect to his father’s love and acceptance (Luke 15:17-19). These were never his father sentiments; they were only the voice inside of his head.

More often than not, it is our voice that limits us in life, but the voice of others can also be just as damaging. In 1 Kings Chapter 13, a young prophet’s disobedience led to a judgment of death for believing the lies of an older prophet; because the young prophet honored the word of an old prophet rather than keeping God’s commandment. Many people are shipwrecked as result of listening to other people at the expense of ignoring what God has said to them.

The voice of the enemy (Satan) comes to derail us and get us out of the will of God all the time. Yes, the enemy has a voice of lies and deceit. Jesus rebuked Peter and said to him. “Get behind me Satan” for listening to the voice of the enemy (Mark 8:33). And, of course, Jesus Himself gave us the perfect example in how to  overcome the voice of the enemy, by fighting him with the Word of God with every temptation that he brings (Luke 4:1-13).

We test all of the above voices by applying them to the Word of God’s voice. If the voice doesn’t measure up and come in alignment to what God has said—reject it! God is still speaking to His people by the Son through the Holy Spirit (Heb. 1:1-2; John 14:16; 16:13).  What voice are you listening to?