"WHO IS JEHOVAH THAT I SHOULD HEARKEN UNTO HIS VOICE" ? (ROBERT H. FARISH )

    God's demand that Pharaoh let his people go was met with Pharaoh's retort - "Who is Jehovah that I should hearken unto his voice" (Exodus 5:2). The sentiment reflected in the retort has not gone out of style. Rebellion against proper authority stems from the basic idea seen in the question, " Who is God that I should hearken unto his voice?"

    The Psalmist presents the case of the one whose prepossessions cause him to reject the being of God in order to avoid the restraints of righteousness - "The wicked, in the pride of his countenance, saith, He will not require it, All his thoughts are, there is no God" (Psalm 10:4). Arrogance cannot thrive in the same heart where conviction that "He will not require it ", exists. Denial of judgment must be constantly repeated - all of one's thinking must be directed toward denying God.

    If there is no God, then there is no effective incentive to "deny(ing) ungodliness and worldly lust"
 ( Titus 2:12). One cannot live "soberly, righteously and godly" in this present world without rejecting ungodliness and worldly lusts.

    The compultion which causes all one's thinking to be, "There is no God", does not exist in a "good and honest heart", The good and honest heart recognizes the right and power of God to "require" it and does not demand, "Who is God that I should hearken unto his voice?"

    Solomon said "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it art the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:23). Keeping the heart involves recognition of the possibility that Jesus is Lord, Prejudice against the idea of supreme lordship effectively prevents belief in God.