Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, dear people.
The weather is looking terrific for what we have in mind—again. My cousin, Dawn, came down on Wednesday afternoon with plans to join me in a little skiing on Mt. Hood. We went yesterday and had a great time. This morning is looking even better. We plan to pull out headed for the mountain in just over an hour. In view of all these pressing priorities, my schedule and routine has been a little disrupted (in other words, normal). So this posting is a bit different. I’m sending three days worth of incompletions…just to get something off rather than nothing.
My tentative plan is to be back home early enough to get a little sawmill work done this afternoon.
Have a blessed day.
Love, Dad/Ray.
When the mind is illuminated to behold the extravagance of God’s creative genius, connecting the vital dots between CAUSE and EFFECT, “thanks to the LORD” is like spontaneous combustion—it can hardly be prevented. However, His handiwork is not just displayed in the physical realm. The author proceeds in this psalm to focus on a display of the LORD’S power, protection, and providence relating to the survival of Jacob (Israel) and his family by means of Joseph in Egypt, then the sensational deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, followed by the amazing account of Israel being led by the LORD through the wilderness all the way to the land of promise. What a story! And it’s not over with yet. Amazingly, Israel as a nation still exists, and still remains the object of God’s providential care. And any people group who turns against God’s people group with intent to do them harm will find themselves on the wrong side of the Most High. That’s a Biblical promise.
Is it not fitting to regard a person who rejects this Biblical perspective as a MOCKER? At least they mock the authority and truth of Biblical revelation that promotes these concepts. In this sense, Proverbs 14:6 presents a viable principle: “The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.” I think I could spin off on a lot of trails of example and application—the political landscape, political correctness, the public education system, social revolution, the welfare system, the health care system—the list could go on and on. All I know is that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom…” (Proverbs 1:7). And man, leaning on his own wisdom, is no more capable of creating a real utopia on this planet than he is of creating a real living life form.