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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19 May 11
Dear ones.
Yes—it’s late. Quite late for me—10:56pm. Just returned home from a unique gathering. My head has bobbed even since typing that line…and it’s now 10:58pm. Interesting day. I think I’ll go to bed and ponder it.
Oh yes—I failed to congratulate you here yesterday, Andy, on your 36th birthday. It hardly seems possible that it was that long ago in the Marshall Islands that you came into being. Whew!—I almost fell off the chair. Better go…
Good night. Love. Dad/Ray
19 May 2011
Psalm 18
Focus: “I love you, O LORD, my strength.” Psalm 18.
That’s it! That’s the key to it all right there! It’s a heart-level affirmation of worship and love for God, with a contrite acknowledgment of His saving grace and intervention. It’s a perspective that prevents one from being high-centered on high-mindedness over victories and successes, but rather overwhelmed with praise and gratitude, recognizing that those achievements are not merely of human design.
I have talked recently of the value of praying out loud. I believe there is a God-ordained psycho-spiritual benefit from that form of prayer. Perhaps that is true of reading God’s word as well. After all, Romans does not say, “Faith comes from reading the Word of God,” but “by hearing the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Maybe there is added value to you hearing you read God’s word out loud. Anyway, I did that this morning—all 50 verses of Psalm 18. I’m not sure if that is the dynamic I experienced, or if I simply identified with David’s experiences of danger and deliverance, or with his attitude of worship. Whatever the case may be, I was not able to finish that reading with unmoved emotions and dry eyes.
Life is frail. Life is dangerous. As I consider the ignorance and stupidity of childhood and youth (including my own), I have to marvel that any of us live to adulthood. I am convinced of one absolute fact: IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT I’M STILL ALIVE. I have been spared, protected, and delivered more times than I know. And I know of many.
When you read of the exploits of David, he looms as one more like a superman than a natural man. He was incredible! He even makes some reference to those warrior feats in this Psalm. After performing those exploits and winning those victories, most any other man would have been so inflated with arrogance that he would likely become an abusive bombastic tyrant. But unlike those with a natural bent, he had A HEART AFTER GOD and sang loudly his versions of TO GOD BE THE GLORY and O FOR A THOUSAND TONGUES TO SING MY GREAT REDEEMER’S PRAISE!
Of particular appeal to me is the section that reads, “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty. You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall” (vv. 25-29).
“A self-centered fellow is a guy who deprives you of privacy without providing any company.”