Page 66 - Old Testament Survey Student Textbook

Study Section 9: Poetic Books

9.1 Connect

How do you praise and worship in your personal life, your community or as nation? The
Poetic books give us a glimpse of Hebrew expression of worship and praise to God and how
to relate with others. They also help us gain wisdom in making life choices. Let’s begin our
survey….

9.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to discuss what the Poetic books are.

2. The student should be able to l discuss the important questions such as: what, when, where,
how.

3. The student should be able to discuss the main message and main divisions of each individual
Poetic book.

4. The student should be able to discuss the applications from the Poetic books.

9.3 Introduction to the Poetic Books

The five books of Poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon) form a
bridge between the historical books (Genesis-2 Chronicles) and the Prophetic books (Isaiah-
Malachi). While these books do not advance the history of Israel chronologically, they do
provide great insights into worship and praise of God and how to relate personally to him and
others. The time setting for the Poetic books is during the period of Israel’s United Kingdom
under Saul, David and Solomon. The Possible exception is Job which may have been written
during the time of Solomon, but which appears to depict life during the earlier period of the Patriarchs
(e.g. Abraham). Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes are also known as “Wisdom literature” because they
contain God’s advice on how to live life wisely.

The books of Poetry concentrate on:

 Personal, Spiritual and religious experience
 Theological and philosophical questions about God, Man and the purpose and the meaning of
life.
 Principles on how to live life well.
 Feeling the heart of God and the heart of man.
 Revealing the character and attributes of God.

Each of the five books of Poetry has its own unique emphasis:

Job—dealing with unjust suffering in light of God’s sovereignty
Psalms--- a Hymn book of praise and worship

65