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King David, the Dave of Goliath and King Saul, the poet philosopher who played the harp, the boy who slew lions and fought bears with his hands; this Lover of his Creator wrote:
"For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are
Thy works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame is not hidden from Thee, when
I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth. Thine eyes
have seen my formed substance; and in Thy book they were all written, the days that
were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them." NAS
These words brand David as a benevolent determinist. While in the numbing depths of an intuitive free-willian cultural psychosis, David was privileged to experience a relationship with his Creator that allowed him to catch a glimpse of what the established religious structures in his time could not have imagined. Knowledge necessary to support David's vision would not exist for over three thousand years, yet he was able to comprehend the authority of nature; the authority of The Creator, the authority of a determined universe. David found incredible comfort in the knowledge that all of his days had been studiously arranged for by the only entity that could be trusted.
This poses a gnarly predicament for the free-will based religious structures. Bathsheba was no accident, no consequence of faulty judgment, no testosterone induced submersion into sin and damnation! David's and Bathsheba's relationship was not just happenstance, it was caused to be! This means the death of Bathsheba's first husband was no accident; no unfortunate clean-up operation due to a messy situation. This was the way it was suppose to happen! This means Bathsheba's and David's first born son was caused to die. Before the child was even conceived, it was determined that it would die as an infant. It was all planned this way. These were not accidents. These were neither blessing nor were they punishment. These were determined to be before they ever happened. And not only that, they were determined to be, they were choreographed, they were ordained, they were written by the Loving hand of The Creator before David or Bathsheba or Uriah were conceived; likely at the moment of creation. To those living outside the bun, that's a problem.
It seems David was not unaware of the implications of this revelation. He prefaced the above section with these words:
"Oh Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down
and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize
my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before
there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, Thou dost know it all. Thou hast enclosed
me behind and before, and laid Thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for
me; it is too high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Thy Spirit? Or, where can I flee
from Thy presence? If I ascend to heaven, Thou art there; if I make my bed in Sheol,
behold, Thou art there. If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of
the sea, even there Thy hand will lead me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will overwhelm
me, and the light around me will be night,' even the darkness is not dark to Thee, and the
night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to Thee." NAS
Adultery, murder, the death of a child; these things are bad, right? Adultery and murder are sin, and the death of this child was consequential punishment for the sin, right? But, if David sinned, The Creator planned, or benevolently determined, that David would sin, right? Where is the necessary autonomy for sin to be sin? If there is any accuracy to what David was saying, The Creator determined what David would do and not David, right? Then, what exactly is sin? God causes His creation to sin? Purity creates defilement? Virtue creates evil? Life creates death? Bad is created by Goodness? Light causes darkness? Is this right? Is this wrong? What is this? Can this be so?
Nothing definitive can be squeezed from these passages. But, what can concluded is this:
• David's existence was determined before David existed.
• David's genetic peculiarities were specifically designed.
• David's experiences were specifically determined.
• David and the Spirit of his Creator are inseparable.
• The Creator does not recognize our concept of "darkness;" darkness is not dark,
and night is as bright as the day.
• Darkness and light is the same thing.
• David would be ill received by contemporary religious standards.
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