I’m a big Petra fan. Ok, I am a HUGE Petra fan. Greg X. Volz, John Schlitt, either incarnation I am a big fan. As a teen I spent many hours listening to their music, and to this day I can remember the words or drum parts to most of their songs. Bob Hartman’s lyrics were mini-devotionals set to music, and I can remember several times where I would be studying my Bible and run across a verse that I recognized – because I had been singing part of it on my way home while jamming to a Petra tape. One of my favorite Petra songs is entitled “Speak to the Sky”, and has meant a lot to me over the years:
In a corner with no windows – no apparent way to go
No escape hatch, must be some catch
Must be something you don’t know
Look down, look around, all your hopes are sinking deep into the ground
Look up through the night, SOS is gonna make it to the light when you
(Chorus)
Speak the sky and wait for the answer
Someone will be there to take your call
Though you may be at the brink of disaster
Speak to the sky and you never will fall
When temptation will surround you
Enemy is closing fast
Fight insistence with resistance
You can know that it won’t last
Look out, look around, cryin’ out but no one seems to hear a sound
Look into your heart, help is on the way before you even start to
(Chorus)
Speak the sky and wait for the answer
Someone will be there to take your call
Though you may be at the brink of disaster
Speak to the sky and you never will fall
I’ve been to those places before. No apparent way to go? Been there. No escape hatch? Been there. Hopes seem to be sinking in the ground? I’ve felt that several times. Surrounded by temptation? Way too many times in that place. In a spot in life where I cried out but no one seemed to hear or care? I would hear these words:
Speak the sky and wait for the answer
Someone will be there to take your call
A reassurance that someone would be there to take my call. Someone would listen and care. Even if I was in the middle of nowhere with no chance of help in sight, I still had direct access to someone much bigger than AAA or OnStar. It isn’t like I had to wake Him up or vie for His attention – He was actively looking and listening. I would remember to slow down and go to God with my problems, trusting Him to hear me and answer me. My answers often required something of me, but God was always listening and ready to move in my life. David understood this, as Psalm 34 is one of several examples we find in the book of Psalms where he wrote of this same approach.
Psalm 34:4, 15-17
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
David found himself in dire straits at different times. In some he was surrounded by those who desired to do him harm. In others he had made poor choices that landed him in trouble. He also found himself in dry places on a personal level, desperately needing to be refreshed. What got him through each of those times was that he had learned to “Speak to the Sky”. As Psalm 34:1 says, he sought the Lord and the Lord heard him and delivered him. He spoke to the sky and waited for an answer. God Himself was there to take his call and to keep him from falling. It all began when he humbly cried out to God and asked Him for His help.
So think about what you may be facing today. Could you use some help? Make sure you take the time to humbly and honestly “Speak to the Sky”, and trust Him to hear you and answer. As you do, you can speak of God in your situation just as David did his in Psalm 46: 1-3:
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
Even though the earth be removed,
And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and be troubled,
Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
He’s more than “a good neighbor”, He’s your very present help in time of trouble.
P.S. In case you want to hear the actual song: Petra – Speak to the Sky (Youtube)
