Insightful Musings on theScriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear people.

Rain is heavy at present. I just returned from an unexpected needed trip to town to get more of a special vinyl film. I thought I had plenty for this particular sign job, but this morning when I went to cut the 5-yard roll I bought the other day, I ran out of material before the cutting was complete. Phooey! I guess I needed about 6 yards.

Becki and I managed a walk/jog up the hill this morning without being rained on. Then she did her regular Monday Bible Study thing in Woodburn. Thano went to work at 8am this morning.

Have a good rest of your day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The “fear of the LORD” can be described, defined, and promoted in many ways. But ideas gleaned from these readings today in Psalm 81 and Proverbs 21 lead me to ponder the importance of that attitude of heart in profound ways. Of course, my best protection from being on the wrong side of the Most High remains to be my deliberate HEART AFTER GOD. But wandering from that posture is indeed dangerous, as demonstrated by God’s dealings with Israel over the centuries. The wilderness wanderings showed them to be less than consistent in their desire to please Jehovah. Then, once settled into the Promised Land, they still wandered, backslid, and rebelled—so as to prompt God to give “them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices”—thus allowing His people to be punished and suffer as a result of their own wrong choices. That has to be sobering.

If it is true that, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21:1), then who do I think I am to think I can direct my own thinker in any way contrary to His thinking—and come out the winner?—successfully violating His will? It’s not going to happen!

We are indeed living in volatile and chaotic times—with Biblical prophecy being fulfilled right and left. Please bear in mind what Jesus said on that occasion when His disciples asked Him about the end times—when Jerusalem and the Temple would be demolished. The first words He spoke were, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (Matthew 24:4). Question: When a person is deceived, does he know he is being deceived? Of course not! If he knew what was happening, there could be no deception. But Jesus’ warning is that deception surrounding the end will abound. And one of the main reasons is identified in 2 Thessalonians 2. Let’s review verses 9 through 12: “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.”

How can this not be a sobering warning?—the Sovereign God handing people over to deception? If we can understand that we are not necessarily the sole originators of our own thinking, that thoughts can be planted and driven by unseen spiritual forces outside of ourselves, why would we not want to be very careful about protecting ourselves from even the possibility of deception?

I cannot think of a more appropriate prayer for protection from such deception than the one David articulated in Psalm 19:14—“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (KJV).