Insightful Musings on the Scripturesby
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary, and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical, insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray has followed, and an archive of all his daily devotional writings for 2010 and 2011.
| Sparre Home Page | Daily Reading Guide | 2011 Devotion Archives | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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8 May 11
Good morning, dear ones.
Happy Mother’s Day.
It’s raining and late…squeezing out my jog. I am eating my breakfast as I type here…just finishing up a nice Cut-throat trout that I caught in our creek yesterday morning. After my jog yesterday morning, I was doing a little routine on my TOTAL GYM and focused on my fishing rod in the rafters of our back porch roofing. I took that as a cue, picked up a couple worms, did a cast or two, and bingo!...there was a nice 11”er on my line. Are you envious? I am too.
So in the little verse I composed for Becki this morning, I wrote, “On this Mother’s Day morning—eating fish from a hook—we’re feeding your hunger—for still another cook book”…and presented the book. I don’t know why…but she seemed to like it.
Blessings on your day. Love. Dad/Ray
8 May 2011
Psalm 7
Focus: “My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.” Psalm 7:10.
The introductory notes for this Psalm reads: “A SHIGGAION of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite.” So—have you ever attended a SHIGGAION concert? Do you know much about CUSH THE BENJAMITE? Probably not. Not even my UNGER’S BIBLE DICTIONARY has a clue as to what a SHIGGAION is or who CUSH was. I guess it doesn’t really matter. The DIRECTOR OF MUSIC apparently knew—whoever he was. We’ll understand it better by and by. (Hey—that would be a good song title!) Suffice it to say that a SHIGGAION had some kind of musical or literary meaning—and CUSH was a bad dude who bitterly opposed David.
We can only assume that CUSH despised David without knowing David’s heart. Maybe CUSH could not even comprehend A HEART AFTER GOD. He probably never heard David sing, observed him in worship, talked with him about faith in Jehovah, or even discussed administration policies that CUSH likely opposed or did not understand. But David was quite aware of CUSH’S plotting against him—perhaps his spearheading an assassination.
Question: Do you have a CUSH in your life? Do you know what it’s like to be in David’s shoes? I do—at least in measure. I know something about being misunderstood, misrepresented, and rejected without an adequate hearing—even while doing my utmost to be and do what is right before God and man. Whew!—that’s tough!
I have to appreciate David’s attitude. He knows he’s on the hot seat and in the cross-hairs of people. But he also knows he humanly can’t do much about it. He doesn’t really understand WHY there even needs to be a conflict. As he scours his heart and searches for dirt and legitimate cause for this dismal effect, he has to wonder if he might be guilty of some kind of moral violation that he can’t see—a BLIND SPOT. So he does the right thing—he appeals to the omniscient x-ray vision of his LORD and prays, “O LORD my God, IF I have done this and there is guilt on my hands—IF I have done evil to him who is at peace with me or without cause have robbed my foe—then let my enemy pursue and overtake me; let him trample my life to the ground and make me sleep in the dust” (vv. 3-5). In other words, “If I am wrong, I want to be responsible for it. May the best man win!”
I can and want to identify with David’s affirmation of faith: “My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.” If David’s confidence is valid and true, can you imagine anything more important to pursue than A HEART AFTER GOD?
“You cannot make a crab walk straight.”