When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?
4 sermons cite this verse
because he was hiding from Jezebel, remember? The great man of God. He's terrified because a woman was going to kill him. He stood in the entrance of the cave and suddenly a voice came. well what do we know about the voice? It's still and it's small. Doesn't sound like fire, doesn't sound like the wind, the voice doesn't sound like an earthquake. It's a still small voice. A voice came to him and said, what are you doing here? Elijah, I love how God talks. Earthquake, fire, wind, rocks breaking open. Elijah's standing there in the door of the cave and he's terrified because the woman might kill him. And this voice, the voice of God says, what are you doing? What are you doing here? Here's the amazing thing about that. God was there. God was there Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and he will direct your paths. Verse 6 ends this way. Follow him as he leads the way. He shall direct your paths. …
… I can't believe I used to preach from this Bible. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Ain't that a crazy phrase? The mouth of the cave. The cave has been talking, just bouncing around. You're the only one. Have you ever heard the mouth of the cave? But then comes the voice of the Lord. I cannot draw God, but I make him bigger than Elijah. I make him happy. I'm going to give him a crown. That's the best I can do, Lord, but that represents you. God says, watch this. God says, watch this. New loop. I say. I say. And the Lord God of Elijah brought you here today to open a new loop over your life, a new way of thinking, a new way of being, a new way of handling adversity, a new way of processing pain. It's as small as a whisper, but it can change your world. It can break you out of the cycle of thinking that put you in this place all alone, that made you feel shut off and cut off and forgot your help and circling your hurt. Jeremiah said it 250 years after Elijah learned it. …
"And He said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORDpassed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind, an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake, a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire, a still small voice. Andit was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What are you doing here, Elijah?" 1 Kings 19:11-13. [Another Sermon by Mr. Spurgeon, upon verses 12 and 13, is #1668, Volume 28—THE STILL SMALL VOICE.] THERE may be a great deal more teaching in what Elijah saw and heard in the cave than I shall be able to bring out this evening. Indeed, I shall not attempt to exhaust the very wonderful practical sermon which was preached to the Prophet on the side of Mount Horeb, but in the still small voice I hear four messages. …
On Lord's-day Evening, September 10th, 1871. "And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the earthquake: and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so. when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"—1 Kings 19:11-13. ELIJAH was a man of like passions with ourselves. We all know that when we have passed through any great excitement of high joy there almost always comes following, a corresponding reaction and depression. Elijah had gone to the top of Carmel and had pleaded his cause, and the rain floods had come in answer to his prayer He had taken the prophets of Baal, and had slain them, and gained a glorious victory for his God; and so full of excitement was he that he girded his loins as though he had been a young man, and ran before the chariot of Ahab, like the royal footmen. It was almost inevitable that after an excitement so high, and strong, that he should be desponding and depressed in spirits, and we find that he was so depressed. If the like should ever happen to any of you' my brethren and sisters, count it no strange thing, nor suppose that some extraordinary trial hath happened unto you. It is but a physical result from physical causes. The mind has operated upon the body. It has strung the bow too tightly, and now, unless the string be relaxed, there is a danger of its breaking altogether. Now as Elias was a man of like passions with us, we may conclude that the way in which God dealt with him is very much the way in which he would deal with us. With a similar case, and the same physician, we may look for the same treatment. As, therefore, the Lord spake to Elijah not by earthquake, nor wind, nor fire, but by the still small voice, so in all probability will he speak to us. It may be, it is just possible it may be, that here to-night there is some worker for God very much in the same condition as Elijah. You, my dear brother, have been working for God in a neighbourhood where you have met with little but opposition and disappointment, and you have almost resolved that you will go away from the place. "The soil is hard," you say, "and breaks the ploughshare. Shall oxen plough upon a rock?" 'Tis in vain for you to continue your labour there, you. think, and you have come here to-night still with this thought uppermost—that you have laboured in vain, and spent your strength for nought. Hear you the word of the Lord this night. He speaks not to you by any earthquake of judgment with which he means to visit you, neither by any fiery word of severe rebuke; but perhaps through me, this evening, he may speak with a still small voice that shall just meet your case and send you back to your labour. Brother, will you play the Jonahs Will you refuse to go to tile great city—to Nineveh? Remember there are worse places than Nineveh. He that goes out of the path that God marks for him may yet come to be at the bottom of the sea with Jonah, with the weeds wrapped about his head. You go at your own cost, remember, if you go away frown the post of duty, however arduous. Don't attempt the risk. But thus saith the Lord unto thee, "It may be thou hast not laboured in vain as thou hast supposed." Elijah knew nothing of the seven thousand men that God had in reserve. You don't know what converts God has given you. There are scattered up and down the world—perhaps some precious ones who owe their salvation instrumentally to you, and could they all stand before you—you would blush with shame at the thought of leaving a harvest—field that has really been so prolific, though not in your sight. Go back again to thy work, for the Lord has blessed thee. Play not the fool by deserting the post where he will give thee honour yet. …