The psalm, from which the Word of Life is taken, reminds us that we are the people of God and that he wants to guide us, as a shepherd guides his flock, in order to lead us into the promised land. He who has thought of us from all eternity knows how we need to walk in order to live in fullness, to reach our true being. He lovingly suggests what we should do, what we should not do and he indicates the path to follow.
God speaks to us as friends because he wants to introduce us into communion with himself. If someone listens to his voice, the psalm concludes, he will enter into God’s rest, that is, into the promised land, into the joy of heaven.
Also Jesus compares himself to a shepherd who leads each one of us to the fullness of life. He speaks and his disciples, who know him, hear his voice and follow him. He promises them eternal life.
God’s voice reaches everyone. The Second Vatican Council reminds us of this: “Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, tells him inwardly at the right moment: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God.”
What should we do when God speaks to our heart? We should simply listen to his word, knowing that in biblical language, listening means adhering completely, obeying, complying with what is said to us. It’s like letting ourselves be taken by the hand and guided by God.  We can trust him, like a child who abandons himself in the arms of his mother and allows himself to be carried by her. A Christian is a person who is guided by the Holy Spirit.

«Oh, that today you would hear his voice.»

Right after these words, the psalm continues: “Do not harden your hearts”. Jesus often spoke of the hardness of hearts. We can stand up against God, we can close ourselves to him and refuse to listen to his voice. A hard heart doesn’t allow itself to be shaped.
At times, it’s not even a matter of bad will. It’s because it’s hard to distinguish “that voice” in the midst of many other voices that resound within us. Our heart is often polluted by too many deafening noises: they are the disorderly inclinations that lead to sin, the mentality of this world which is contrary to the plan of God, fashions, lifestyles, advertising slogans…. We know how easy it is to confuse our own opinions and desires with the inner voice of the Spirit, how easy it is, therefore, to fall into arbitrariness and subjectivity.
I must never forget that the Reality is within me. I must silence everything within in order to discover the voice of God there. And I need to draw it out as if I were extracting a diamond from the mud: polish it up, highlight it and allow it to guide me. Then I can be a guide for others as well, because this subtle voice of God which urges on and enlightens, this lymph which rises up from the depths of the soul, is wisdom, it is love, and love is meant to be given.

«Oh, that today you would hear his voice.»

How can we sharpen our supernatural sensitivity and evangelical intuition in order to perceive the suggestions of that voice?
First of all we need to constantly re-evangelize ourselves by becoming more and more familiar with the word of God, reading, meditating, living the Gospel, so that we increasingly acquire a Gospel mentality. We will learn to recognize God’s voice within ourselves in the measure that we get to know it from the lips of Jesus, Word of God become man. And we can ask for this in prayer.
Then we’ll have to allow the risen Lord to live in us, denying ourselves, waging war on our selfishness, on our “old self”, always lying in wait. This means that we must always be ready to say “no” to all that goes against God’s will and to say “yes” to all that he wants; “no” to ourselves in the moment of temptation, cutting short with its suggestions, and “yes” to carrying out what God has entrusted to us; “yes” to loving every neighbor; “yes” to the trials and difficulties we encounter.
Finally, it will be easier to discern the voice of God if we have the risen Lord in our midst, that is, if we love one another, creating oases of communion, of brotherhood around us. Jesus in our midst is like the loudspeaker that amplifies the voice of God within each one of us so that we can hear it more clearly. The apostle Paul also teaches that Christian love lived in the community enriches us more and more in knowledge and every kind of perception to discern what is of value.
Our life will then be lived as if between two fires: God in us and God in our midst. In this divine furnace we will be formed and trained in listening to and following Jesus.
A life guided as much as possible by the Holy Spirit is indeed beautiful: it has spice, zest, drive, it is authentic and filled with light.

Chiara Lubich