David would not have been the sweet singer of Israel if he had not been a man of striking character and rich life experiences that he was. And it was his state of mind, or state of soul, rather, in all of its variations of grief and anxiety, temptation and drive, persecutions and rescue, and like experiences, which are the strings on which are played the melodies of the objective words and deeds of God in nature and history, in institutions and preaching, in judgment and redemption.
It is the harmony of God’s objective revelation and his subjective leading which is voiced in the song, and which is sung as in the presence of God, dedicated to his honor, which calls upon all creatures to join in the paean of praise, which keeps on singing until all that is in heaven and on earth picks up its chords, and which is, therefore, for all ages and for all generations, the richest expression of the deepest experiences that the human soul has felt.
Monday, July 04, 2022
Join in the paean of praise
Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), Our Reasonable Faith: A Survey of Christian Doctrine, (a synopsis of Bavinck’s four-volume Reformed Dogmatics), Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1956
[Note: A paean is song of praise or triumph.]
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