AN APPALACHIAN AMERICAN AND THE KING JAMES VERSION
I have never hidden the fact that I was born and raised in North Carolina, the land of Pepsi, Lance Crackers, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. For those from our great state, they know that it is divided up into three areas: Mountains, Piedmont, and the Coastal Plain.
Although I was raised in an area that was in the Piedmont, I still had plenty of influence from good mountain folks. Having lived in the foothills of North Carolina for the past 47 years, I have come to consider myself at least half Appalachian American. I was taught as a kid in the local tongue that a "poke" was a bag or a paper sack and that getting "tore out of the frame" was a picturesque way of saying someone was upset. I can watch YouTube documentaries on the English used in the mountains of North Carolina and understand every word without closed captioning. I love it!
Since becoming a Christian at the age of 12, I have read the King James Version of the Bible on many occasions. I was taught to read from it in my church and have continued to do so to this day. Little did I know that the English, Scottish, Irish, and German settlers in the mountains of North Carolina would give me a greater appreciation and understanding of the Bible that I read. Here are a few examples.
YONDER
“And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.” (Genesis 22:5)
Abraham told his servants that he and his boy were going to a certain place in a certain direction. For those who don’t know the rest of the story, Abraham took his son Isaac to Mount Moriah with the intention of offering him as a burnt offering according to the commandment of the Lord. Just before the sacrifice of Isaac, God intervened and directed Abraham to sacrifice a ram instead of his son. If I had a nickel for every time I used the word "yonder" as a kid, I think I would be a millionaire.
Abraham was willing to go "yonder" to obey the Lord at great cost and sacrifice. Are you willing to go yonder for the Lord?
HOLPEN
“Shew me a token for good; That they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: Because thou, LORD, hast holpen me, and comforted me.” (Psalm 86:17)
More than seventy of the Psalms were written by King David. This one was penned by the king himself, and he reflected on the divine aid that God had given him. When I was a kid, I remember hearing an older gentleman walk out of the church and say, “That message really holped me.” He was helped by the preacher’s sermon.
When is the last time you acknowledged that the Lord has "holped" you through a valley or trial? If kings need the help of the Lord, then surely you and I do too.
CLEAN
“And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over Jordan, that the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying” (Joshua 4:1)
The Bible is filled with miracles and the crossing of the Jordan River by Israel is one of them. God dried up the Jordan River and the entire nation of Israel walked completely across it. After a baseball game, I would say something like this to my dad, “He hit that ball clean out of the park.” On one occasion, my dad looked at me and said, “I am going to wear you clean out!” I knew what he meant.
When God delivered in Israel’s day, he did it completely. I am glad that thousands of years later, my sins have been washed "clean" away by the blood of Jesus Christ.
RIGHT WELL
“I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: Marvellous are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14)
Have you ever known something in your heart so assuredly that nothing could shake your confidence in it? The psalmist felt that way too when he used the expression right well. Pardon the incorrect grammar, but this sentence reflects how I would have used this phrase as a kid. “I know right well that Jimmy did it because I seen him do it!” I was very sure of what I knew and saw.
Contrary to what the world may tell you, there are some things that you can know "right well." One of those things is that God’s works are truly marvelous.
WITS' END
“They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end.” (Psalm 107:27)
Have you ever been exasperated by circumstances and declared that you don’t know what else to do? If so, then you know what it means to be at your wits’ end. I can still hear my mammaw saying to me during one of my summer visits, “Youngin’, I don’t know what I am going to do with you. I am at my wits’ end!” I wish I could hear her voice again.
In Psalm 107, God used the wind and the waves to bring sailors to their "wits’ end." When you are being tossed by the storms of life, do like these sailors and cry to God for deliverance.
The next time you are tempted to think a hillbilly is uneducated or ignorant, be very careful. He may know more of the King’s English than you think. Read the Bible and let it change your life.