MADAM DAY, PROFESSOR NIGHT -- Devotional for September 4, from "Good Seeds"

God’s glory is on tour in the skies; God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madam Day holds classes every morning; Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, but their silence fills the earth – yes, unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. (Psalm 19:1-4)

This paraphrase of a song of David shows what can happen when one poet builds on another poet’s work. Eugene Peterson is a godly and skillful theologian, but also a gifted wordsmith. In his hands “The heavens declare the glory of God” becomes “God’s glory is on tour in the skies.” And he renders, “Day to day pours forth speech” as, “Madam Day holds classes every morning!” I love that! The meaning is the same, but this version hits home to my heart! Some people become quite indignant when the Bible is reworded like this, accusing these bold thinkers of desecrating Holy Writ. Of course we must always be very careful to “handle accurately the word of truth” (II Timothy 2:15), but this doesn’t mean we do not interpret to bring out the true meaning. We read in Nehemiah 8:8-10 that the Levites “read from the Book of the Law, and then gave the sense, to help the people understand” what they just heard. This has ever been the process of conveying Bible truth: read it, but then go back and seek to explain it. Hermeneutics, the science of biblical interpretation, offers not only principles which aid in bringing out the meaning, but also gives cautionary warnings concerning errors in interpretation that can lead us astray from the original intent of the human writer – and the Divine Author. But this doesn’t mean only Bible scholars can be trusted to explain the Bible correctly. Indeed, these are the very ones who often lead people astray from God’s truth. So, 1) we start with the heart! A head knowledge of theology and Greek and Hebrew cannot replace intimate fellowship and a personal relationship with the Author of salvation. The Spirit of God is our teacher, the Word of God, our textbook – but it is a spiritual book, which can only be comprehended by spiritual people. “The natural man” – including unregenerate Bible scholars – “cannot understand the things of the Spirit, for they are spiritually discerned” (I Corinthians 2:14). And then 2) we need a basic understanding of language. From there 3) we pick up a good, reliable translation, and read it for all it’s worth! And as we read, we think and pray and 4) bring our sanctified imagination into play – and before we know it, we are expressing David’s “night unto night bringeth forth knowledge” with Peterson’s “Professor Night lectures each evening.” My response resembles that of the people of Israel: I weep when I understand, and then exult in joy, and am strengthened thereby!