Lincoln -- American Psalmist

This week's National Review refers to the Gettysburg Address as an American Psalm. Apparently Lincoln was under the creative influence of Emerson and Whitman when he began to compose his poetry. At least scholars suggest this is so. What an influence to be under.

Mr. Lincoln, do you know why I pulled you over?

Why officer, I have no idea, truly.

I pulled you over because you appeared to be
driving under the influence.

Officer, I am most assuredly guilty -- I am profoundly under the influence of scripture, and Emerson, and Whitman.

I get goosebumps when I read Lincoln. He is clearly a master orator, but more than that, he is profoundly theological. If he has written The American Psalm in The Gettysburg Address, I have to think that just maybe he is The American Psalmist. How much like David he was. A man of distinctly humble origins. A man who was not expected to be great. A man who presided over a family dispute of classical proportions. A man not necessarily understood by the women he loved -- at least Saul's' daughter anyway.

I wonder if sometimes the reason that David and Lincoln resonate with us is because of their everyman origins. All of us can see ourselves in their beginnings, and dream of how they conducted themselves, most of the time anyway, in our own futures. I confess -- at times, I freely compose under the influence of Lincoln. And what an influence it is.

This week I offer a reflection drawn from Doris Kearns Goodwin's latest effort about Lincoln's Cabinet. These rivals are brought together at a time of great need in our country, and Lincoln was generally able to get them to serve him and the country rather than their own egos. I will contrast Lincoln with Solomon -- a man we think of as having particularly profound wisdom, but a man who defines a dysfunctional family. Lincoln wanted the best to lead the country. A man we think of in the Gold Standard for Wisdom -- failed miserably in this area.

Sometimes, the Bible provides us a good bad example.