The song below was once popular in the country music world. It asks a series of questions that perhaps you have asked.
A Few Questions (Ray Scott/Phillip Moore/Adam Wheeler) Performed by Clay Walker
How in this world can we put a man on the moon,
And still have a need for a place like St Jude’s?
And why is one man born, In a place where all they know is war?
An’ a guy like me, Has always been free.
An’ how can two people who built a lovin’ home, Try for years an’ never have a child of their own?
When somewhere out there tonight, There’s a baby no-one’s holdin’ tight: In need of love.
To me, that don’t add up.
An’ why did my cousin have to die in that crash? A good kid, only seventeen, I still wonder ’bout that.
It seems unfair to me, Some get the chance to chase their dreams,
An’ some don’t.
But what do I know?
Why do I feel like you hear these prayers of mine.
When so many oughta be ahead of me in line?
When you look down on me,
Can you see the good through all the bad?
These just a few questions I have.
Chorus: I wasn’t there the day you filled up the oceans. I didn’t get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don’t mean to second guess you,
Or criticize what I don’t understand.
These are just a few questions I have.
The first time I heard the chorus of this song I couldn’t help but think of the book of Job.
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:1-7
The questions that God asked Job out of the whirlwind are similar to the statements that the songwriter made. Only God’s wisdom was sufficient to answer the questions that He asked Job and only God’s wisdom is sufficient to answer the questions of the songwriter.
God’s Eternal Wisdom
God is the only true source of wisdom in the universe.
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Romans 11:33-36
Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. I Timothy 1:17
The wisest created being in the universe was Lucifer, but his wisdom became corrupted when he chose to rebel against God.
Thine [Lucifer’s] heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezekiel 28:17
Not only does God have wisdom but He also reveals the wisdom He has. God delights in putting His wisdom on display by making it known to His creatures.
Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king; But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; Daniel 2:27,28
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. I Corinthians 2:9,10
And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, Ephesians 3:9,10
God’s wisdom is not deep, dark, hidden wisdom. He displayed it for the entire universe in His Word. The wisdom found in God’s Word is not new. God’s wisdom and His Word have existed from eternity past and will continue to eternity future.
The LORD possessed me [wisdom] in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Proverbs 8:22-30
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalms 119:89
Great testimony is given to God’s wisdom, in that what He planned and wrote before the foundation of the world will be fulfilled in detail in the dispensation of the fullness of times. God has faith in His own Word and by faith He will fulfill every detail of that Word.
In the completed Word of God we find God’s eternal wisdom, and in God’s eternal wisdom we find the answers to life’s most perplexing questions. One of Job’s supposed comforters was Zophar. His counsel to Job was that he could never understand God.
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? t is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. Job 11:7-9
In Paul’s epistles we learn that Zophar’s counsel to Job couldn’t have been more wrong.
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. II Timothy 3:16,17
It is possible to know the breadth, length, depth, and height of God and to know him to perfection. God gives access to His wisdom by revealing it in His Word. In that wisdom we find the answers to the songwriters questions.
God’s Wisdom in Creation
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together by faith to create the universe. Each member of the Godhead played a role in creation and had faith in their plan and faith in the other two members to carry out the plan.
God the Father is the master architect of creation. He conceived the plan of the universe.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1
God the Son is the master builder of creation. He supervised and carried out the plan of the Father.
But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. I Corinthians 8:6
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Hebrews 1:1,2
God the Holy Spirit is the master craftsman of creation. He did the bidding of the master builder to actually put the pieces of the universe in place.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Psalms 33:6
The wisdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is seen in the creation of the universe. By faith God carried out His plan in creating the heaven and the earth.
God’s Wisdom in Redemption
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit worked together by faith also in God’s plan of redemption. Each member of the Godhead played a role in redemption and each member of the Godhead had faith in their plan and in the other two members to carry out the plan. Paul refers to each member of the Godhead and their role in redemption in the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is the master architect of redemption. He chose us in Christ before the world began. He planned for our redemption before He created us.
In whom [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; . . . That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. Ephesians 1:7,12
Jesus Christ is the master builder of redemption. A perfect and willing sacrifice was needed for our redemption. Christ was that sacrifice.
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:13,14
The Holy Spirit is the master craftsman of redemption. The Spirit takes us out of Adam, places us into Christ, and seals us.
The wisdom of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is seen in the redemption of fallen creation. By faith God carried out His plan of redemption by making eternal life available to His fallen creatures.
A Few Answers
As God walks in faith to the wisdom contained in His Word, so must we walk by faith in His Word. The wisdom of God’s Word answers to the songwriter’s questions.
The songwriter asks why mankind is able to do so many wonderful things like putting a man on the moon and yet can’t stop the suffering in St. Jude’s Hospital. As great as man’s wisdom is in his own eyes it is insignificant when dealing with life and death problems. Only God has the solution for death.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1:18-25
In spite of all that man has accomplished he is, as the saying goes, just “rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.” Man’s problem is sin and the death that sin brings. Only God’s wisdom conceived a solution for that.
The songwriter also asks about things that seem in man’s eyes to be unfair. “Why did my brother die?” “Why are children born in poverty and political bondage?” All of these things are man’s own making.
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. Genesis 3:17-19
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. Ecclesiastes 1:2
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Romans 8:22
When man sinned it brought a curse on the earth responsible for all situations that seem unfair. We should not expect life on this earth to go smoothly. Man’s easy, carefree existence ended the day that Adam sinned. God is not to blame for our present condition; we are.
In the final verse of the song the songwriter asks about his relationship to God. “Can God see my good through my bad?” God tells us that He sees no good in any of us.
But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Isaiah 64:6
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Romans 3:10-12
The only hope that man has for a relationship with God is in the person of Christ. Only in Him does God see us good, not because of our goodness, but because of His goodness. Only in Christ can we approach God in prayer. The relationship that the songwriter desires with God can come only through Christ.
A Few Questions
Only God’s wisdom can answer the questions of life. That wisdom is found only in God’s Word. When we rightly divide the Word of Truth and apply it by faith to the details of our lives, we find God’s answers to our questions.