Insightful Musings on theScriptures
by
Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67
Good morning, dear people.
Wow! Time flies. 44 years ago on Father’s Day, 1972, I became a real father. Our first-born, Jill, emerged into the real world. I remember that I was so overwhelmed and humbled with the marvel of it all, I cried. I think it’s best if we all maintain that marvel in recognition and praise for this facet of God’s gifting. That seems to be in keeping with a statement contained in the FOCUS VERSE below: “Let Israel (practical meaning: you and me) rejoice in their Maker.” He MADE it all. We’re just managers and participants.
At least some of my day will be run of the mill—my mill, of course—sawing up 8 logs I have decked and ready to go.
Blessings on your day.
Love, Dad/Ray.
Creative expression in song and worship is clearly pleasing to the Creator. Indeed, creativity is a divine imprint of the Creator’s image and likeness. After all, there is no evidence that He gifts any other creatures with the same creative capacity that He invests in His human creatures. Every time we attend a church service there is some measure of congregational song—all creative expressions from inspired authors both from the distant past and from recent times. The songbooks in the pews may contain over 500 such selections. The fact that they have been collected and preserved in print for repeated use is evidence that there is certainly nothing wrong with singing OLD songs. In fact some of us OLD people find ourselves chafing with the appearance of a mindset that insists the NEW songs are better than the OLD songs and should replace them. But perhaps more important than whether an expression in song is OLD or NEW is whether it is an authentic heart-and-spirit-level expression of both personal and collective praise and worship. After all, Jesus set the standard for worship this way: “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). This leads me to reason that maybe one of the ways to transform an OLD song into the equivalent of a NEW song is to thoughtfully ponder the message contained—rather than just “songfully” reading or repeating memorized words in detached conformity with what everyone else is doing.
Here again is an indication of the LORD’S pleasure in those who worship from a HEART AFTER GOD. “For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation” (Ps. 149:4).
I trust that the best way to interpret verses 6 to 9 is to view it as applying to our engagement in SPIRITUAL WARFARE, and not to actual or physical warfare. After all, as Paul discloses; “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).
Question: Why would a believer not be motivated toward heart-level worship if they understand the following?