Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

Becki and I made it to and from Seattle yesterday. But there were times when we wondered if we were going to make it. The car was running rough. And the oil leak that we thought was repaired the other day in a local shop was worse than ever…and the “Check Engine” light was on again. We already have the car back at that shop. So Becki is taking my old truck to her Bible Study event in Woodburn.

Driving in Seattle yielded some spectacular scenery, not the least of which was big beautiful Mt. Rainier, but also reminded me why I would prefer not to live there again. From about Tacoma to Shoreline, I-5 traffic was a taxing congested crawl.

On with the day. Blessings on yours.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Now that’s a curious thing to say! An equivalent might be, “It’s just not right for anyone to say, ‘God bless you’ to this group of people as though they are quite OK and on good terms with God.” Who is the psalmist talking about? Backing up to verse 5 in this paragraph yields the answer—“all who hate Zion.” Since Zion came to be a name applied to the city of Jerusalem, the headquarters of the nation of Israel, and the symbolic dwelling place of the Sovereign God with the permanent temple built there, it’s easy to generalize the meaning to include “all who are opposed to or indifferent to the God of the Bible.” This is the class of people who should not be carelessly throwing around the cliché of “God bless you” when they have no personal interest in God nor concern with pleasing Him—beyond getting what they want. If this is a valid take, how should we regard those who casually or flippantly say, “God bless America,” when they reflect no interest in seeking or pleasing God?—as though God were obligated to do so because they say so.

I wonder if we could be benefitted to think beyond the popular definition of BLESSING to include anything that would prompt us to correct our preconceived wrong ideas, recognize our absolute dependence upon God, and prioritize seeking and pleasing Him. In the big picture, what could possibly be more blessing than that? In this sense, therefore, accidents, financial reverses, broken dreams, social rejection, or terminal illness have the potential of being transformed into profound blessings if they achieve these vital corrections. And in that light, those things commonly associated with blessing have the potential of being transformed into profound curses if they prompt attitudes of “Why do I need God when I’m so wonderful, prosperous, smart, good, and self-sufficient?” That which rings in my head at present is the rhetorical question presented by Jesus—“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world (like success, recognition, fame, prosperity, perfect health, etc.), yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-38). OK—that may be a rhetorical question, but it still deserves an answer. Indeed, everyone does answer—either explicitly or implicitly. The best Bible-based explicit answer I can come up with responds equally well to both questions: ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!—nothing beyond a HEART AFTER GOD. If there were anything I could produce that could atone for my SIN—anything that could adequately compensate for my gaining ETERNAL LIFE—then Jesus would not have had to die on the cross—and there is nothing very amazing about God’s GRACE. It would also follow that Biblical revelation would be rendered little more than worthless nonsense.