Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

As I scrutinize the heart and character of Daniel, he appears to be about as squeaky clean as a member of the human race can get. But I still have this little wonder—one that will never be answered this side of eternity: In view of the possibility that Daniel was made a eunuch by his Babylonian captors, to what degree did that physical modification contribute to his moral and spiritual squeaky cleanness? Just wondering—and we shouldn’t get high-centered on such speculation. To be sure, eunuch-hood is not a solution to the NATURAL SIN NATURE—but I can only imagine that it would minimize one’s magnetism toward one of the most common avenues of moral failure known to man—particularly, male men who retain their masculinity. On the other hand, as I ponder what I just said, I’m recognizing that this common failure is not so much the result of the reality of that known magnetic attraction as it is a failure to build a godly fence around the known attraction and assign godly rules for its management and release BEFORE the pull is activated—not AFTER. The AFTER approach is as absurd as closing the gate after the cows get out.

In the margin of my Bible alongside Daniel’s prayer that takes up the first half of chapter 9, I wrote this comment: “Here is a model prayer of intercession.” Take note of the first-person pronouns used. In his introduction, he uses first-person singular—“I prayed to the the LORD MY God and confessed.” But in the body of the prayer it is all first person-plural. That fact implies to me a heart of compassion. Daniel is not consumed with the small picture of just me and mine. He sees the big picture of God’s plans and purposes that far exceed little Daniel—he understands via the “Scriptures” (9:2) and “the Law of Moses” (9:11) that the LORD has given special revelation and responsibilities to His special people Israel. Here’s how the prayer begins: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land” (9:4-6). Is this not a worthy prayer template to pray on behalf of our own nation?

Both Daniel and the Apostle Paul model not only proper content of prayer, but also the proper heart content of the one praying. Anyone can say words that are said, read, or memorized and call it a prayer. But not everyone is truly praying when they “pray” a prayer. These men demonstrate the essential combination of heart level passion and desire with their verbal expressions—without which praying simply becomes another form of noise—“a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1). We are not only called to love God with all our hearts, but to pray to God with all our hearts—which is the vital man-to-God side of communication and fellowship in a vital man-and-God love relationship. Consider one of Paul’s prayer descriptions and the passion and compassion that drive it: “Brothers, my heart's desire (passion) and prayer (verbalization) to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved (compassion, intercession). For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” (Romans 10:1-4).