Ep 111: High Frequency Hearing

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What can birdsong teach us about
listening to God's Word? 

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I'll tell you about that in just
a second. 

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Welcome to the show. 
I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for 

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your Sunday morning drive, the 
short podcast with the goal of 

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providing some motivation, Dr. 
and encouragement on your way to

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worship and helping you recenter
your mind on those spiritual 

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things on a hectic Sunday 
morning. 

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I really hope you enjoy today's 
episode. 

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It's kind of become a hallmark 
of the show to feature a bird 

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related episode now and then. 
So for those of you that were 

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missing out on that, I'm happy 
to supply it this morning. 

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Let's go ahead and get the show 
on the road. 

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This is episode 111, high 
frequency hearing. 

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Let's go to church. 
Are we there yet? 

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As we age, our hearing gets 
worse. 

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That's a nondisputable fact. 
I'm only in my 30s and already I

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find it harder and harder to 
hear what my wife is saying from

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across the house. 
She claims it's selective 

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hearing, but you know, who's to 
say? 

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Anyway? 
On that note, I was listening to

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a podcast here recently and it 
was discussing how we even begin

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to lose the ability to hear some
types of bird song as we age. 

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Let's test it out. 
I'm going to play a few seconds 

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of the song of a Grasshopper 
Sparrow and you can decide if it

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applies to you. 
Ready. 

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Here we go. 
Did you hear that? 

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Are you getting nervous? 
If so, I apologize. 

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I didn't play anything. 
Got you. 

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Now for the real test. 
Here it is. 

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If you heard that, wasn't it 
beautiful? 

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And if you didn't, I'm sorry. 
In layman's terms, that means 

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you're old. 
In scientific terms, it means 

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you've lost what is called your 
high frequency hearing, the 

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ability to hear those 
frequencies that are higher in 

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the audible human range. 
Now before you panic, it's 

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perfectly normal. 
Even the wise Solomon himself 

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mentions its inevitability 
whenever he reminds us to 

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remember our Creator in the days
of our youth. 

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In Ecclesiastes 12 verse 4, when
the doors of the street are 

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shut, and when the sound of the 
grinding is brought low, and one

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rises up at the sound of a bird,
and all daughters of song are 

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brought low, the Godhead places 
a great importance on our 

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hearing. 
We know this and many of your 

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minds are probably already going
to that first step in our walk 

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towards salvation we find in 
Romans 10/17. 

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So faith comes by hearing and 
hearing the word of God. 

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My thoughts also linger on the 
15 or so times in the New 

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Testament that Jesus said he who
has ears to hear, let him hear. 

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What was the the point? 
Not just to hear, but to listen,

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to internalize, to retain and to
learn. 

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Dear listeners, sometimes, yes, 
as we age physically, but also 

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sometimes as we mature in our 
faith. 

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Well, maybe mature isn't the 
right word for it, but stagnate.

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We become set in our ways. 
When that happens, do we tend to

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lose the ability to hear? 
Do we lose the desire to listen 

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to the beautiful things of 
Scripture, to the hard truths 

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that prompt repentance? 
Visas, when asked why he spoke 

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in parables, quotes the prophet 
Isaiah when he says this in 

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Matthew 1314 through 17. 
Indeed, in their case the 

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prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled.
That says, you will indeed hear 

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but never understand, and you 
will indeed see but never 

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perceive. 
For this people's heart has 

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grown dull, and with their ears 
they can barely hear. 

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In their eyes they have closed, 
lest they should see with their 

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eyes, and hear with their ears, 
and understand with their heart,

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and turn, and I would heal them.
But blessed are your eyes for 

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they see, and your ears for they
hear. 

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For truly, I say to you, many 
prophets and righteous people 

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longed to see what you see and 
did not see it, and to hear what

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you hear and did not hear it. 
Many times I feel like we let 

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that selective hearing set in. 
We hear those things that 

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confirm what is comfortable, but
we shut out the truths that 

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might be challenging, that maybe
could move us towards 

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repentance, that perhaps could 
push us towards greater 

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faithfulness. 
Maybe it's similar to that lost 

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birdsong and we've lost our high
frequency hearing because 

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there's nothing higher or more 
worthy of hearing than the voice

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of the Almighty God and the King
of Kings speaking to us through 

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His word. 
Don't tune Him out, because if 

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we do, whether because of bad 
ears or hard hearts, we're 

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missing out on something truly 
beautiful. 

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That's something we can't afford
not to hear. 

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Well, those are my thoughts for 
your Sunday morning drive. 

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Now it's time to hear yours. 
Our discussion questions for 

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this week are what is 1 hard 
truth from Scripture that you've

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been tempted to tune out or to 
ignore? 

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And what practical step can you 
take this week to respond to it?

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In your daily life, what 
distractions or habits make it 

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harder for you to truly listen 
to God's Word? 

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And what is the difference 
between simply hearing God's 

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Word and truly listening to it? 
How can we put that practice 

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this week? 
Hey, thanks for listening. 

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I appreciate the time you take 
out of your week to make our 

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show a part of it. 
Keep hearing, keep listening to 

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God's Word, and I'll see you 
Sunday.