2016 picture of Ray Sparre

Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67



Tue May 24, 2022

Hi, Zane.

We have a few more minutes left of the morning. We’ve already done our walk/jog. To the delight of the dogs, that excursion included Becki. Their excitement seems to go up like crazy when they become aware that Becki is going with us.

The biggest work pressure upon me at present is sawmill work. I need to knock out a lot of lumber and be prepared to deliver it to Prineville on Saturday. Better get crackin’!

As you will see, I decided to grab a devotional from my archive processing of the Psalms back a few years ago…2016.

Blessings. Love and prayers—Tua/Ray.


24 May 2016
Psalms 124/Proverbs 24
“If the LORD had not been on our side…” (Psalm 124:1)

Part of the equation for objectively critiquing our lives in the rear-view mirror is to raise WHAT IF questions. What if I had made decision B rather than decision A? What if I had never met Becki? What if we never had children? What if my speargun had not misfired on that day in the Majuro lagoon? What if my daughter and I had not been rescued by that other boat at a very critical moment? What if my parachute had not opened? What if I had not been exposed to the Biblical Gospel? What if I had never known the touch of God’s Holy Spirit on my heart and mind?

David is doing much the same kind of cranial exercise in Psalm 124: “If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel say—if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive; the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away” (Psalm 124:1-5). I believe David’s reasoning is sound and accurate. And, of course, the great value of such reasoning is that it lends support to our applauding the sustaining grace and intervention of the LORD. Life is frail, and our eternal destiny is delicate. It’s unreasonable to conclude that our survival, deliverance, or life courses are entirely the result of our own strength, brilliance, or foresight. Let’s sing again, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

“Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul;
if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Proverbs 24:14