It’s not what you say but how you say it—the Bible tells us so.
Have you ever noticed that a great deal of the Old Testament is written in poetry? Most of the prophetic literature, Psalms and Song of Songs are the most notable among poetic collections. Even Ecclesiastes and Proverbs are considered poetry (hence being a part of the collection of literature in the Old Testament called the “poetic books”). What are we to make of this?
First, I think that this is part of the reason why so many are Old Testament illiterate. It’s simply easier for those of us from literate, western cultures to read prose. What’s fascinating about this is that most of the Old Testament was originally oral (passed from generation to generation oral and intended to be heard and told rather than “read”). What we find in the written prophets can almost be considered “sermons” of sorts (although not purely because most sermons by definition today cannot be described as “poetry”). Regardless, poetry tends to be more challenging to read and interpret (and yes, there is a difference between reading and interpreting).
Second, the fact that so much of the Old Testament is written in poetry indicates something about the nature of the message being transmitted to the intended audience. Poetry is not meant to inform its audience, but to move its audience. Poetry is largely geared to present a familiar reality in a new and fresh way. It can be considered a sort of “fresh expression” of something that we already knew. It’s intended to grab our attention and grip our hearts. It’s intended to reach down in the depths of human existence and plant a seed that can develop into an entirely new way of thinking. In technical terms, it is to take that which is metonymic and make it metaphoric. It’s intended to syncopate the steady pulses of the rhythms of our lives. It’s brings dissonance where there’s always been traditional harmony. It makes us say, “Oh! I hadn’t thought of it that way!”
What’s my point? That the Word is intended to transform us, not just inform us. Now certainly information changes us, but not always at the level that God is after. God is after our depths, he after a change in thinking, a change in worldview. The Holy Spirit wishes to challenge our fundamental paradigms for processing reality. He wishes to communicate to us something that turns our cognitive worlds upside-down.
The problem is that many people live at such a shallow level in their thought lives that there’s nothing of substantial depth that God is able to attach a Divine thought to because it would simply minimize Him.
We must go deeper in our thinking; there God will meet us.