The Sound of the Sun

The vacuum of space prevents us from hearing it, but if we could hear the Sun, not only would it be a continuous noise, but it would be an inescapable roar. It’s estimated that the volume would be 125dB. That’s like a constant clap of thunder, or a nearby jet engine, or a chain saw that doesn’t have an off switch.

Imagine we could hear it as well as see and feel it. Then some bloke comes along, with cotton in his ears and noise-cancelling headphones on over that. He insists that the Sun is just a social construct of weak men who can’t think for themselves. He insists there’s no such thing as the Sun. He scoffs at anyone who tries to make him hear the sound, see the light, feel the warmth. We would call such a man deluded.

Tozer once made this simple and insightful remark about God’s omnipresence, “The word present, of course, means here, close to, next to, and the prefix omni gives it universality. God is everywhere here, close to everything, next to everyone (Knowledge, pg. 74).” 

God made all things and is present in all things, while remaining distinct from all things. He is not confined by His creation, but His presence is more immediate than the air which we breathe.

Man’s sin is thinking he can live independently from God. We think we exist thanks to us. We think we are self-sufficient. But trying to be like god (godly) apart from God Himself, is like fish trying to swim without water. The thunderclap of God’s omnipresence invites us at all times to acknowledge Him as our God and Lord, and render our worship unto Him. To think otherwise is to show the great folly of your unbelief.

The Psalmist reminds us that we cannot go into the depths of the Pacific or the heights of the Rockies without God being present there (Ps. 139). Not only is He present but He sees all our sinful attempts to live apart from Him, the Giver of Life itself. In Him alone we live and move and have our being. We must repent of thinking of ourselves as autonomous, or islands of existence, or that we can even be apart from the Almighty. When think this way, we show that our heart is a blackened charcoal of pride, and unless God gives us a new heart we will remain in our sinful arrogance. But when He gives us ears to hear, by grace, the first thing we notice is the glorious roar of the Sun of Righteousness, everywhere we go. We then wonder how we ever could have been deaf to that joyous sound.