When David wrote his psalms he never dreamed they would become Scripture. For David Scripture was the writings of Moses. Then again David never saw a codex. Scrolls were the media of his time. David and the sons of Korah and others were writing music. It is fascinating how the intent of authors often changes in the minds of the readers and even more so as centuries pass. Paul would have objected had he known we would consider his letters, especially those to Timothy or Philemon, to be anywhere comparable to the works of the Old Testament.
One of the great wonders of Scripture is its continued relevance. Here we are in the 21st century still being intellectually and spiritual fed by writings over 2000 years and some 3500 years old. When we speak of the Bible as being the Word of God we, of course, mean God breathed, God inspired thoughts, filtered through the minds of men who were very much children of their historical time. They were His penman and not His pens. They did not take dictation. They received God’s ideas and wrote them within the space of their own intellectual capacity and education.
God’s Spirit, upon our request, will attend us as we read. He will interpret for us 21st century meaning helping us with the wisdom to negotiate our way through a world that is changing so rapidly we have to keep running to keep from falling behind. I just mastered email and texting and then came tweeting and poster boarding. David and Paul never dreamed of a computer but they did understand human issues and those are the same for us as they were for them. People are people no matter what the century.
Written by Roger Bothwell on August 15, 2013
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org