Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good afternoon, dear people.

It’s been 6 days I’ve missed. That which became front and center was preparation for this last weekend where Becki and I had a presentation to make at the Brain Injury Alliance of Oregon Annual Conference. Our slot was on Saturday afternoon. However, I will admit that last Tuesday I made a decision to be thoroughly irresponsible—and went skiing with Thano. I don’t regret it one bit. We had a terrific time.

The fact is that I may go up to Ski Bowl this evening with a friend. But there are some other things to sort out surrounding the death of another friend just this morning. This friend has been hassled by cancer for about 1 ½ years.

I did a small job this morning that called for using the chainsaw mill. I milled a big thick black walnut slabs into two fairly equal thickness pieces.

Have a great rest of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

While I wish to grant to Asaph all the freedom he needs to pour out his heart before God, I have to confess to some reaction to the views and attitudes that seem to drive some of his expressions in prayer. Verses 12 through 17 impress me as some of the most appropriate statements Asaph makes in the entire prayer/song. I think it would have been best if he could have allowed this acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty and transcendence to be the basis for the rest. Instead, because he’s so upset and consumed with his own sufferings and the plight of his people, he seems to reduce the Almighty to wimpy—ascribing to Him absent-mindedness and oversight—as though He’s just not paying enough attention to the realities that Asaph faces. So, it seems that Asaph makes the subtly arrogant and foolish assumption that, since God is way up there in heaven, and Asaph is way down here in the middle of the chaos, he needs to help the Lord out with his superior perception by informing Him of what’s really going on and to instruct Him as to what to do.

It could be helpful to review a fundamental philosophical/theological question that everyone needs to answer for himself—indeed everyone does, by the way they think and behave and pray (or don’t pray). The answer to this question establishes a mindset that influences everything else. HAS GOD CREATED ME IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS, OR DO I CREATE GOD IN MY IMAGE AND LIKENESS? A closely related question could go like this: DO I EXIST FOR GOD, OR DOES GOD EXIST FOR ME?

It only makes sense that if God is the Sovereign Designer and Maker of me, as well as everything else, I am wise to not lean on my own narrow-minded understanding, rejecting all temptations to call His nature and character into question. It’s quite appropriate to consult Him and to make my requests before Him (Philippians 4:4-7), but also to do my utmost to trust Him in all matters beyond my reach—matters He orders and allows according to His good will and pleasure (Proverbs 3:5-6).