David Never Went to Science Class

רנן  rânan  to overcome, to cry out, shout for joy, give a ringing cry (Hiphil) to cause to ring or sing out (for joy)

And those living in the uttermost parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and the evening to rejoice (ranan).  Psa 65

Think back to your science classes in grade school and on through high school.  Think of all you learned about sunrise and sunset, the explanations you heard for the color of the sky.  How light refracts through our oxygen, and dust in the air or in recent years here out west, wildfire smoke caused the sky to look red.  Even so who has not said “Did you see the beautiful sunrise this morning?”

Now transport yourself back to the time of David.  His Bible was the Torah – what we call Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy and he would have called Beroshit (in beginnings), Sh’mot (names), Va’yikra (and He called),  Bemidbar (in the wilderness) and Devarim (words).  And perhaps he had Joshua and Judges, but that would be it.

When David went to school he learned Torah – those first five books that many today prefer to ignore.

Now think of David’s writings – much of the book we call Psalms.  His Bible was small but it gave him enough to be able to know God and know him incredibly intimately.  He knew the Holy Spirit and he knew Yeshua.  Maybe not by name but he knew who he is.

Regarding the Spirit David said: “Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.” 2 Sam 23:2 WEB

And think of his prophetic writing, for example in Psalm 22 where he describes execution by crucifixion in amazing detail including  “they have pierced my hands and feet.” (v. 16)

David never went to a science class in his life, where he learned naturalistic explanations for everything.  He never heard the theory of evolution which in our day is not presented as a theory.  He never was taught that rocks are inanimate, that stars are burning spheres of hydrogen being converted to helium and that is why it is bright and hot.

He never had courses in biology, or chemistry or physics that explain everything scientifically and exclude the Creator from every class.  Since Engel vs Vitale in 1962 our Creator has been expelled from public school for being incompatible with science.

But David’s world, besides being much more accurate, was also much more beautiful.

Think of the evening and morning singing out for joy!  Why?  Because they know their Creator, intimately and on top of that they obey him completely.  

Read Job chapters 38 and on and you will hear God ask who laid out the earth in its dimension; who put boundaries around the sea; where is a road that takes you to light and where do you find darkness; have you been where snow is made; how is lightning distributed and more and more.

This is David’s world where he writes of it saying things like:

“In them he has set a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his room, like a strong man rejoicing to run his course.” Psa 19:4-5  WEB

Sounds like morning and evening, sunrise and sunset crying out with praise!  Or Psalm 8 where he says:

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained;” (v. 3)

For David creation is an expression of the God he serves.  God is not some far off being hidden by creation, some add on of the Enlightenment which taught mankind that all things can somehow be explained scientifically.  God is not really important – science is really what matters.  Want to believe in God?  OK for you but not really necessary.  Science is necessary for life.

Not for David.  Today we would say he was a “young earth creationist.”  When he looked at creation he saw the Creator as did many others.  He didn’t see 6th grade science.  David knew Genesis as his science book, including Chapter 1, and he saw the Creator.

And even though the number of books available had increased, John the Immerser saw the Creator when he said “For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.”  Mat 3:9

Yeshua, his cousin also,  who said of creation in relationship to people: “And some of the Pharisees from the crowd said to Him, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples.’ And answering, He said to them, ‘I say to you, If these should be silent, the stones will cry out.’”  Luk 19:38-39 

Want to travel to a wonderful planet?  

Forget your science and enter the world of Scripture and its revelation of God where rocks cry out, the sunrise and sunset rejoice in singing out, where rocks can take the place of human voices, where the stars speak in words that go to the ends of the earth (Psa 19), and where mountains and hills sing and trees clap their hands (Isa 55:12). 

Enter David’s world and rejoice right along with the rest.