Offspring of a Poetic Age

CBN.com The King James Bible is part of our deepest cultural memory. It taught us how to speak, how to shape our words, our thoughts. Presidents literally swore by it, and used its rhythms and syntax to shape their speeches. Four score and seven years ago . . . It once deserved a place right up there with mom, apple pie, and the American flag.

As a child, we heard it, of course, from our pulpits because it preached so well. Its musical structure helped us memorize our verses. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son . . . We heard it at every wedding, every funeral. It was preamble to our meals, with its unique old sound.

Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee:
For whither thou goest, I will go;
and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:
Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God . . .

After 400 years, the King James Bible not only remains a testament to what has been proven excellent in our English past, it is also the clear voice of God, speaking, as He does, in rhapsody and simplicity. The Word of God is timeless, and this seventeenth century version is still capable, with all its linguistic splendor and with its deep inward gaze, to speak to us as clearly today as it did when it was fashioned by King James and his company of translators four hundred years ago.

It was the offspring of a poetic age, the age of Shakespeare and Elizabeth, of Hamlet and Sir Walter Raleigh. And I think that’s what I love about the King James Bible the most, its lyrical heft, its deep and groaning rhapsodies that no other English translation quite achieves, as beautiful as they may be.

The 1611 King James Bible, according to its title page, was appointed to be read in churches. Few could read anyway, and the notion of a personal Bible, or even a Bible study was unheard of at the time. The faithful received the Word of God not so much by reading, but by listening. Faith cometh by hearing . . .

People knew how to listen. They were “tuned” to listen. The language was rich. It suspended slightly above you, and perhaps slightly ahead of you. You had to reach for it. Theirs was a listening culture. The late Elizabethan early Jacobean age enjoyed a powerful linguistic vitality that the English language will never realize again.

And in spite of my pitch, I’m not trying to sell you a King James Bible. Nor am I making a hoorah for its 400th birthday, but I do want to suggest something. When God first spoke to man he did so in the language of love, which is always lyrical. Think about the first time you fell in love. There was no plain text about it. The whole world turned lyrical. God is love and he can speak no other way. He is not obligated to explain anything. The word of God has never been about information, in spite of our current appetites. He is beautiful that way. He is ever protective of his mystery, giving us what he chooses to give us, and as we can handle it.

And anyway, love is supposed to enchant.

Let me encourage you to rethink your relationship with the King James Bible. Dust it off and then open it to Psalm 23 or Matthew 5, to Ecclesiastes 3 or Romans 1. In spite of its age, it is timeless. You will hear majesty and meaning come together by way of beauty and clarity, for no other English translation captures the lyric, or expresses a God of love quite like it does.

David Teems earned his BA in Psychology and Philosophy at Georgia State University. David has been occupied in full-time ministry as a musician, published songwriter, Bible teacher, worship leader, contributor to Christian magazines, speaker, and published author. Transitioning, as he has, from music to books, David remains active in ministry, making public appearances on a regular basis, either speaking or playing worship music with Grammy and Dove winner Joe Beck in Nashville. David’s wife of twenty-five years, Benita, their Dalmatian, Sophie, and their sons Shad and Adam (and Adam’s family) all live in Franklin, Tennessee.

Transitioning from music to books just a few years ago, To Love Is Christ, a devotional, was released in 2005 by Thomas Nelson Publishers. And Thereby Hangs A Tale: What I Really Know About the Devoted Life I Learned From My Dogs released from Harvest House Publishers (June 2010) and went into a second edition within a few months. Majestie:The King Behind the King James Bible released in October 2010 from Thomas Nelson, and he is currently working on his next book for Thomas Nelson, Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God An English Voice, a biography of the bible translator and martyr William Tyndale. David has just recently released Speak To Me: For A Faith That Comes By Hearing, which are the King James scriptures spoken by David with the ambient music of Phil Keaggy and Nashville studio guitarist, Tom Hemby.