Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good evening, dear ones.

It’s getting late and my head is sure giving those signals of wanting to shut down for the day.

This day did not play out according to original planning. Among other things, we put together a little excursion after lunch with Andy and Delaine and 4 kids, plus Thano’s 2…driving up to the Buck Lake trail head in the mountains above Estacada and did the short hike up to the lake. Pretty little lake. Andy and his 4 went swimming in it…catching a bunch of salmanders. Thano was not able to go due to his work shift at Safeway.

It’s too late to wish you the best for the rest of the day. It’s pretty much water under the bridge. So have a good night.

Love, Dad/Ray.

There is a mind-boggling quality attached to this expression. My little head does not wrap easily around the idea of infinity—that is, something beyond measurement. “Everlasting” can only mean infinite time. David is declaring that from infinite time in the past all the way up through infinite time in the future, the nature and character of the Timeless One remains constant and unchanging. And, contrary to that of typical false gods, His nature and character includes love toward His human creatures. However, while His love is available to all, the special benefits and rewards thereof are reserved for only a select few—“those who fear him.” In that sense, God’s love is very conditional.

Earlier in Psalm 103 David draws inspiration from another dimension of infinity—infinite space. That too is mind-boggling. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him” (103:11). Wow! But he doesn’t stop there—he messes up my head further by calling me to imagine a straight line traveling east as compared with one traveling west. If those lines start at one point, will they ever meet again? “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (103:12). Wow again! How in the world can this Biblical faith be found boring or irrelevant?

Do you realize that Psalm 103 offers a window into David’s self-talk? He begins by exclaiming—not to a crowd, not to God—but to himself. “Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name” (103:1). The more I think about this, the more I am convinced that David is giving us the best form of psycho-spiritual counseling, teaching, and training that you will ever find. Indeed the most important talk you will ever hear is the talk you give to yourself. Not even the talk of God will over-ride that. How so? Because no other talk will require your CHOOSING to do what is right. Being forced to do what is right is not a choice. If the Kingdom of God is anything, it is a choice—“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

David is so captivated with the LORD’S worthiness of praise that he ends up Psalm 103 with a rhetorical command—“Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion.” It’s like there is a contemplative pause at that point. Perhaps he realizes that rhetoric is inadequate, so he adds another self-talk command—“Praise the LORD, O my soul” (103:22).