Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, special ones.

Whew! I think I really put myself out on a limb this time. I hope you don’t cut it off. On the other hand, if you think you should, go ahead. I’m wearing a parachute.

Becki is off on her Monday morning routine to Woodburn. Thano is working on his chicken fence. I see Bimbo down by his dog house jumping around, while on his tether, playing with a ball all by himself. And I need to get cooking on my TO DO list…all by myself. The morning has been so tight I was not able to do a jog…again.

May your day play out to be a good one again.

Love. Dad/Ray.

Well, David—you sure got that one right—you are going “the way of all the earth.” And the way things go down here on planet earth, no one is getting out of here alive!—at least, not without some supernatural alteration to interrupt what is natural.

Once again, I face a measure of difficulty in sorting some things out within this body of Scripture called the Bible—commonly regarded as the inerrant Word of God. Where are the lines of separation between an accurate presentation of God’s truth, and an accurate accounting of human history and events? God’s truth is flawless, but if flawed men are left to select and record what is God’s flawless truth and what isn’t, is it not possible to have some difficult-to-separate flawed ideas creep into the mix? Rightly dividing the Word of Truth is not necessarily a “piece of cake.”

This first chapter of 1 Kings is a case in point. Quite honestly, I judge that some crazy stupid stuff is allowed to be legitimized for some—only because it’s “in the Book.” Where in the world does anyone come up with the notion that an appropriate “hot water bottle” for an old man needs to be a gorgeous young virgin girl? Good grief! Why in the world would this “need” call for a nation-wide beauty contest?—when David already has a harem full of beautiful women? They could have had a “pig pile” (That’s what we called it as kids) and kept David toasty warm. Have they all turned cold? What in the world has happened to God’s ideal for marriage where a wife is a “help meet” for her husband (Genesis 2:18)? Why in the world would David agree to such a crazy scheme? “Come on, David—you may be old, but you’re not brain-dead!” The record says, “but the king had no intimate relations with her” (1:4). OK, but I know too much about this stuff—just because a guy is old doesn’t mean his memory is shot. The record doesn’t report on what David was thinking—and wishing. If all was known, this whole deal may have rendered more trouble for David than solution. Is my honesty out of control?

David’s deathbed words to his son Solomon also present some difficulty. Some of his last words were nice “Christian” instructions of revenge—essentially saying, “Make sure you execute Joab and Shimei for the dirty stuff they did to me!” But he also emphasized the bottom line of it all—the highest priority for all people everywhere in all time. In so many words he said, “Make sure you maintain a HEART AFTER GOD.” To that I have to say, “Amen, David! Amen!” This foundation of love is what covers “a multitude of sins” and shortcomings (1 Peter 4:8).