854. Verse 2. And I heard a voice from heaven as the voice of many waters, signifies glorification of the Lord from the Divine truths that are from Him. This is evident from the signification of "a voice from heaven" as being the glorification of the Lord, since "a voice from heaven" involves the things thus spoken, and these here follow, and are especially contained in "the new song," by which acknowledgment and confession of the Lord are signified. Also from the signification of "many waters," as being Divine truths that are from the Lord. That "waters" signify in the Word Divine truths, may be seen above (n. 71, 483, 518); and because this is the signification of "waters" therefore speech is sometimes heard from heaven as the sound of flowing waters; such was the sound of the voice of the Son of man walking in the midst of the lampstands:

Whose voice was as the sound of many waters (Revelation 1:15).

Also in the following words:

I heard the voice of a great multitude, and as it were the voice of many waters, and as it were the voice of mighty thunders (Revelation 19:6).

And again:

The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard like the sound of great waters (Ezekiel 1:24).

Like "say," the word "speak" refers to thoughts and feelings moving from our more internal spiritual levels to our more external ones -- and ultimately from the Lord, who is in a sense the most internal spiritual level of all. This is generally called "influx" and "perception" in the Writings, meaning they are thoughts and feelings that flow in in a complete way from the Lord, rather than being things we have to think about and figure out. On a number of occasions "speak" and "say" are used together; in these cases "speak" refers more to intellectual instruction in matters of thought and "say" refers more to feelings and affections that flow in directly.