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Crabb distinguishes attend, hearken and listen thus:
`Attend is a mental action; hearken, both corporeal and mental; listen
simply corporeal'.
The English word `attend' is derived from the Latin attendo which means
to stretch or bend anything -- a bow for example. It is the very reverse of
slackness. If the mind be distracted with other things, attention may be
impossible; truth will go `in one ear and out of the other' as the saying has
it, and there may be more truth in the rejoinder than at first appears: `It
does so, because there is nothing in between to stop it'! Empty headiness
and inattention go together. `Take heed how you hear' said the Saviour. It
is the lament of Isaiah 1:3 that the people of the Lord did not `consider'.
It is the same word, translated `understand', that is used in Isaiah 6:9
`Hear ye indeed,
but understand not' which led to such tragic consequences for Israel. This
attention and consideration should not be intermittent, it should be the
continual attitude of the believer:
`I will have respect unto Thy statutes continually' (Psa. 119:117).
The Word should be esteemed and respected:
`I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food'
(Job 23:12).
`More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold:
sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb' (Psa. 19:10).
Again we should hear the Word of the Lord with an expectation that it
will guide us and illuminate our path. It must be accepted as a `lamp' unto
our feet, and a `light' unto our path (Psa. 119:105). Finally, the manner in
which we hear will be related to the way in which we respond to what we have
heard:
`If any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer he ... forgetteth ...
But ... he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this
man shall be blessed in his deed' (Jas. 1:23 -25).
Such are a few of the suggestions contained in the Scriptures as to
`how' we should hear. As to `what' we should hear, we would say:
(1)
`All Scripture', for it is `profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness'. It
makes the man of God `perfect' and thoroughly furnishes him unto all
good works (2 Tim. 3:16,17).
(2)
`What' we hear should not only be found in Scripture, but should
be found in those Scriptures that are peculiarly related to the
dispensation under which we are called; for while all Scripture is for
us, all is not about us, and we need to rightly divide the Word of
truth to hear aright.
Finally there is a definite link between hearing and speaking. The
tongue of the learned (learner, a disciple), that is able to speak a word in
season is connected very closely with the ear of the learned (learner, a
disciple) which is wakened morning by morning (Isa. 50:4). `As I hear, I