INTRO TO THE OLD TESTAMENT

WEEK 6 – THE WISDOM AND POETRY BOOKS I

INTRODUCTION

• The previous 17 books we’ve covered have dealt primarily with Israel as a nation and the Jews
as God’s covenant people
• The ‘Poetical books’ deal more so with the individual’s experience of faith in God
• Fully one-third of the Hebrew Bible was written in the form of poetry. Only 5 books do not
contain a poetic section (Lev., Ruth, Ezra, Haggai, and Malachi).1
• The books are ‘poetical’ not because they are merely artistic, but because of their form
o “Tightly structured lines and highly emotive word pictures” 2
o Because God is transcendent, we are able to speak about Him in two ways: 3
▪ Negation – He is infinite, immaterial, invisible, unchangeable
▪ Analogy – Comparing God to something familiar in everyday life
• The Poetical and Wisdom Books are: The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon
• Three types of Hebrew poetry:
o Lyric Poetry – Originally accompanied by music; often contains strong emotional
elements. See the Psalms
o Didactic Poetry – Teaches principles about life by means of maxims. See Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes
o Dramatic Poetry – Dialogue in poetic form. See Job and Song of Solomon.

JOB

• Dating the Book of Job

o There are no explicit chronological markers given in the book of Job
o Several facts indicate a date during the patriarchal period of Israel’s history: 4
▪ Job’s life span was about 200 years, similar to Abraham’s
▪ Job’s wealth is measured in livestock and not in precious metals
▪ Job functions as a family priest, offering sacrifices (Job 1:1-5)
▪ There are no references to Israel, the Exodus, the Law, or the tabernacle
• Who Wrote Job?
o It is not known who wrote the book of Job. Possibilities include Job, Elihu, Moses and
Solomon.
o Scholars are also uncertain as to where ‘Uz’ was located.
• Theme: Suffering and the sovereignty of God

1
Boa, 139.
2
Old Testament Survey – 231.
3
Ibid., 242.
4
Boa, 144.

Introduction to the Old Testament – Clay Kraby

 • Key Passages:
o Job 13:15 - “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; yet I will argue my ways to his face.”
o Job 28:20-24
• The Structure of Job: 5
o Setting the Stage:
▪ Job’s Circumstances (1:1-5)
▪ Satan’s first assault on Job (1:6-22)
• “Have you considered my servant Job?” in vs 8 is more literally
translated “Have you had your heart set on my servant Job?”
• Read Job 1:13-22
▪ Satan’s second assault on Job (2:1-10)
• Satan and God speak again
• Satan attacks Job’s health
▪ Job’s friends arrive (2:11-13)
o Three Cycles of Debate – Here, Job’s friends say that sin must be the cause of his
suffering. Job responds to each of them, defending himself and his conduct before God.
▪ The First Cycle of Debate (3:1-14:22)
▪ The Second Cycle of Debate (15:1-21:34)
▪ The Third Cycle of Debate
o The final defense of Job (27:1-31:40) – Job’s closing monologue
o The Solution of Elihu (32:1-37:24) – Elihu offers a better perspective, encouraging Job to
humble himself before God and submit to God’s refinement of Job through trials
o The Deliverances of Job (38:1-40:5)
▪ Read 38:1-7
▪ God’s first challenge to Job – Exposing Job’s ignorance of the things of God
• “And the Lord said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the
Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Job 40:1-2
▪ God’s second challenge to Job – Exposing Job’s frailty compared to God
• God uses the example of Behemoth and Leviathan
• Job responds: “Therefore I have uttered what I did not
understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.” Job
42:3
▪ God rebukes Job’s friends (42:7-9)
▪ God restores Job
• “And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning.”

PSALMS

• The book of Psalms consists of 150 different songs, poems, and prayers
• Typically broken down into five different “books”

5
Modified from Boa, 148-150.

Introduction to the Old Testament – Clay Kraby

 o Book 1 – Psalms 1-41
o Book 2 – Psalms 42-72
o Book 3 – Psalms 73-89
o Book 4 – Psalms 90-106
o Book 5 – Psalms 107-150
▪ There is debate as to how and why this traditional breakdown came to be
▪ The final lines in each of these “books” of Psalms are very similar, typically
something to the effect of “Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from
everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.”
• The Psalms were written by several different authors spanning about 1000 years, covering the
centuries from Moses through to the postexilic period.
o David (73)
o Asaph (12)
o Sons of Korah (11)
▪ (See Numbers 16:28-35, 26:9-11 for some family history)
o Heman and Ethan (2)
▪ Heman, a Levite and the grandson of Samuel (1 Corinthians 6:33)
▪ Ethan, also a Levite, was apparently very wise (1 Kings 4:31)
o Solomon and Moses (3)
o Anonymous (49)

• Types of Psalms 6

Type Psalms Act of Worship

Lament 3-7; 12; 13; 22; 25-28; 35; 38-40; 42- Express the need for God’s
44; 51; 54-57; 59-61; 63; 64; 69-71; deliverance
74; 79; 80; 83; 85; 86; 88; 90; 102;
109; 120; 123; 130; 140-143
Thanksgiving 8; 18; 19; 29; 30; 32-34; 36; 40; 41; Make aware of God’s
66; 75; 103-106; 111; 113; 116; 117; blessings; Express thanks
124; 129; 135; 136; 138; 139; 146-
148; 150
Enthronement 47; 93; 96-99 Describe God’s sovereign rule
Pilgrimage 43; 46; 48; 76; 84; 87; 120-134 Establish a mood of worship
Royal 2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 72; 89; 101; 132; Portray Christ the Sovereign
144 Ruler
Wisdom 1; 37; 119 Instruct as to God’s will
Imprecatory 7; 35; 40; 55; 58; 59; 69; 79; 109; Invoke God’s wrath and
137; 139; 144 judgment against His enemies

6
MacArthur Bible Handbook, 155.

Introduction to the Old Testament – Clay Kraby

Jesus Christ And the Psalms 7

• The Psalms show up in the New Testament more than any other book from the OT.
o In the 260 chapters of the NT, the Psalms are used over 400 times!
• As Jesus road into Jerusalem, the people shouted Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name
of the Lord! from Psalm 118
• “And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Matthew 26:30)
o Likely the customary hymns for Passover, Psalms 113–118, called “The Hallel.”
• The ‘cup’ imagery of Matthew 26:39 draws from Psalm 75:8
• Judas’ actions of betrayal are foreshadowed in Psalm 41:9 - “Even my close friend in whom I
trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
• While on the cross Jesus cries out, in the words of Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me?”
• With his dying breath Jesus cries out, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” a phrase
which comes to us from Psalm 31:5
• After His resurrection, as He is giving the Great Commission, Jesus said “Everything written
about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
• Jesus was saturated with the Psalms and the Psalms are saturated with Jesus

The Psalms as a Guide for Prayer 8

• Praying the Psalms will enliven your prayer life and increase your spiritual vocabulary
• Take today’s date and look up that Psalm; add 30 in order to view five Psalms for that day
o Example, Psalm 8, 38, 68, 98, 128
• Quickly scan those five psalms then pick the one that best leads you to prayer at that moment
• Go through each verse, reading the text of the Psalm, and pray what comes to mind
• If nothing comes to mind for a particular verse, move on to the next
• On the 31st day of the month, spend time in Psalm 119 only

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• MacArthur Bible Handbook – John MacArthur

• Old Testament Survey – Lasor, Hubbard, Bush
• Talk Through the Old Testament – Wilkinson and Boa

RECOMMMENDED RESOURCES

• Introduction to Praying the Psalms (Audio) http://wcppc.org/category/audio/ben-patterson-2014/

• CH Spurgeon’s 2-Volume Treasury of David, a commentary on each Psalm
• An app called Five Psalms by Bryant Huang follows the method from Don Whitney

7
Information compiled by my friend, Benjamin Kandt, for an article on my website posted at
https://reasonabletheology.org/pray-psalms-psalm-saturated-savior/
8
See Don Whitney’s Praying the Bible

Introduction to the Old Testament – Clay Kraby