Welcome dear listeners to talk seven of our series of twelve on Old Testament Survey. Having covered Old Testament history, we are now in the next category of books, which is the category of wisdom. The books are namely in sequence Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. These books collect together the insights of the wise among God's people who receive guidance and wisdom from the Spirit of God. They share with us how to understand and live life on earth so that we uphold God's law and please Him.

It'll help us to understand these books better by treating them thematically rather than in a strict book by book sequence. This is because while law in history or the books in law in history follow a historical sequence, this is not the case for the wisdom books. They are written to teach rather than to track events. Thus it is clearer and more meaningful for us to group them by similarity of themes and structure. So let us first cover Psalms and Proverbs in this session, then Job, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon in the next. Both Psalms and Proverbs are collections of subject matter from a wide period of history. Psalms, as its name suggests, is a collection of Psalms written in by various psalmists with David as the chief contributor. Proverbs also as its name suggests, is a collection of wise sayings from different wise men in different times with Solomon as its chief contributor.

It is note-worthy that neither Solomon nor David was a sinless man, however their contributions to each collection are drawn from the wisdom they receive from the Spirit of God in their lifetimes. It is crucial, therefore, to recognize that the Holy Spirit who inspired them is the chief writer of these books rather than their human contributors. This principle, in fact can be applied do the Bible as a whole, that all the human writers are instruments of the Spirit of God. And He used them under His anointing to give us God's message, not just each writer’s personal or private thoughts or ideas.

So this is a crucial point that makes scripture Scripture. It is a message from God rather than a message for men. So their role, this is the human writers as their role was to collect for us the wisdom that God wants to give us through them. They are not tribute to the human writers. They're collections of wisdom from God. So let's begin with the book of Psalms.

The book of Psalms is the longest book, not only of the Old Testament, but also of the whole Bible. It contains one hundred and fifty psalms. And these hundred and fifty psalms are themselves divided into five sections. Each section is also called a book. So you can say that there are five books of the Psalms, although we also recognize it as one total collection. In which case, it counts as one book. Now, the five sections within Psalms are; Psalms 1-41 as book one; Psalms 42-72 as book two, Psalms 73-89 as book three, Psalms 90-106 as book four, and Psalms 107-150 as book five.

So the entire hundred and fifty Psalms has an overall structure that weaves all these five books, or these five sections together as one. At the same time, each of these five sections, or five books within the book of Psalms has its own structure. Furthermore, each Psalm has its own structure. So if you consider these factors, it can be noted that the Psalms is the most complex book of the whole bible, especially in terms of its structure. Each psalm has a structure. Each book within the book of Psalms has a structure. And the entire book of the Psalms has a structure that includes all the sections together as one.

And therefore, if we understand these structures, we actually see a lot more fully and deeply into the message of the Psalms over and above what we may understand by reading individual Psalms. A Psalm is a poem that is used for singing. All right, let me repeat that. A psalm is a poem that is used for singing. So it is both poetry and song. There is poetic and musical structure and rhythm written into each Psalm. It expresses as poetry and songs do. It expresses thoughts, emotions, and human life experiences that draw response from its readers.

Collectively, the Psalms express the depth of despair and the bitterest defeat on one extreme, all the way to the highest elation and the most exalted praise of God, including praise for His greatness and salvation. So it is not surprising that many have found it the most moving and meaningful book in the Bible, but more than just expressing the full range of human experiences. It collects and records insights from God into how to live life, how to walk with God, and the importance of God's law. It contains prophecies that foretold God's plan, especially those that point to the person and life of the coming messiah that God was sending. And that, of course, is Jesus Christ. So many of these prophecies in the Psalms or all of these prophecies in the Psalms are fulfilled in the life time and ministry of Jesus when He came.

Now let's turn to the book of Proverbs. Like the book of Psalms, Proverbs is a collection. But unlike Psalms, it is a collection not of Psalms, but a collection of wise sayings. So it is a combination of prose and poetry. It has many aphorisms, what you may call pithy  sayings, put in a very attention-capturing way as many aphorisms and insights into human life. Like the Psalms, it also gives counsel on how to live life God's way.

And it touches on even the most mundane of a human life, like facing day to day routines and drudgery, and the circumstances of life that we face on a day to day routine basis. But it gives special emphasis on the value of Godly wisdom as better than wealth, possessions or power. That if one lives by Godly wisdom, which is the emphasis of Proverbs, then one walks in a way that God blesses and upholds. It is the way to eternal life. The life that God wants us to live not only for now in this life, but it is also a path that gives us an opening from God into eternity.

And it points to Christ in a subtle, indirect way. It points to Christ as the wisdom of God. So like the Psalms in a different way, it points to the messiah. In the next talk, we shall complete the wisdom books and covered Job, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon.

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