One great example of the dynamic I was writing about in the last post is Psalm 19. Why doesn't David simply say "God has revealed His glory throughout all the earth"? Or, why didn't God simply make sure that the beginning of Paul's argument in Romans 1:20 was written in the Old Testament? "For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." Wouldn't that be much more 'rational'?
More rational, perhaps, according to modernist and Enlightenment standards (of which you may guess that I'm not a huge fan), but much less like God, and much less like human beings. The poetry conveys more than truth propositions, it helps us understand by invoking our experience- God's glory in the earth is like the heat of the sun; everyone feels it inescapably, and it is exuberant! Even my summary is insufficient; we must meditate and taste God's Word, not merely rationalize it.
Psalm 19:1-6
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech,
nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
Their measuring line goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In them he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,
and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Its rising is from the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
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