Old Testament Survey: The Poetry Books (Part 1 of 3)

JOB (“Persecuted”)

Author: Unknown

Date of Authorship: Unknown

Setting:

• Place:“Land of Uz”
• Time: Likely time of the Patriarchs

Key Figures:

• Job
• Eliphaz the Temanite
• Bildad the Shuhite
• Zophar the Naamathite
• Elihu the Buzite

Thematic Breakdown:

• Call to Stand (Job 1-2)

• Key Verses: Job 1:6-9, 21-22

• “Holey” Counsel (Job 3-37)

• Key Verse: Job 30:1, 9-11
• Eliphaz v. Job

*Eliphaz (Job 4, 5, 15, 22): Suffering comes from sin. (4:8) Repent and submit to Him.

(22:22-23)

*Job (Job 6, 16, 23): Don’t make assumptions about my situation (6:29-30). I have been

walking rightly, but that doesn’t mean God’s will won’t be done (23:10-14).

• Bildad v. Job

                             *Bildad (Job 8, 18, 25): Admit you messed up. Get your life right and everything will

be well again. (8:5-7)

*Job (9, 10, 19, 26): Why do you treat me so badly, God? (10:1-4)

• Zophar v. Job

                            *Zophar (Job 11, 20): You need to get your heart right rid of the sin in your life. Then it

will be better! (11:13-17)

*Job (12, 13, 21): You don’t know what you are talking about (12:1-5). I know as much

as you do. Stop slandering me and presuming to speak for God (13:1-16).

• Job’s “Why Me?”

                              *I used to be a bigshot (29). Now I am rejected (30). (29:8-11, 21-25 v. 30:1, 9)

• Elihu v. Job

                            *Elihu (32-37): God hears our cries of suffering and has not turned His back (35:9-14).

You need to get a better understanding of who God is (37:14-18).

• Call to Attention (Job 38-41)

• Key Verse: Job 38:1-3
• God: Brace yourself. For I have questions for you (38:2)

*    Response and Restoration (Job 42)

• Key Verses:  Job 42:5-10

PSALMS (1-41 (“Music of the Lyre” (Greek: Psalmoi)/”Praises” (Hebrew: Tehillim)

Overall Book Division: 5 “Book” that parallel Moses’ Pentateuch

Book	Concern	Parallel
I (1-41)	Personal	Genesis (Walking with the Lord)
II (42-72) and III (73-89)	National	Birth of a Nation (Exodus and Leviticus)
IV (90-106) and V (107-150)	(Public) Worship and Reflection ;	Learning, Living, and Loving the Word (Numbers, Deuteronomy)

Authors: At least 1, potentially 3:

* David: 2-9, (10,) 11-29, (31,) 32, 34-41

• Key moments in David’s life:

* Psalms 3: As David fled from Absalom (2 Samuel 15)

* Psalm 7: Unknown event of the circumstance of “Cush the Benjaminite.

• 2 Major Views:

1. Cush = King Saul (from the tribe of Benjamin)
2. Psalm revolved around Absalom’s rebellion

* Psalm 18:  After Saul stopped chasing David (2 Samuel 22)

* Psalm 34: When running from Saul (2 Samuel 21)

*    Anonymous: 1, (10,) 33

*    Jeremiah: (31)

Dates of Authorship: ca. 11th (time of David) — 6^th (destruction of Jerusalem) centuries BC (except those where author is unconfirmed)

Setting: n/a

Key Figures: n/a

Notable Psalms:

• Psalm 1: The “Blessed” Man

• “Blessed” = “Happy” (Heb. `esher)
• The Message: ¹How well God must like you— you don’t hang out at Sin Saloon, / you don’t slink along Dead-End Road, /  you don’t go to Smart-Mouth College. /

^2-3Instead you thrill to God’s Word, /  you chew on Scripture day and night. /

You’re a tree replanted in Eden, / bearing fresh fruit every month, /

Never dropping a leaf, /  always in blossom. /

^4-5You’re not at all like the wicked, / who are mere windblown dust— /

Without defense in court, / unfit company for innocent people. /

⁶God charts the road you take. / The road they take is Skid Row.

* Psalm 3: As David fled from Absalom (2 Samuel 15) 

• Verses 2-5 (KJV): “²Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. ³But thou, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. ⁴I cried unto the Lord with my voice; and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. ⁵I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me.”

* Psalm 7: “Cush the Benjaminite” 

• Verse 1 (NCV): “Lord my God, I trust in you for protection. / Save me and rescue me from those who are chasing me.”

 

* Psalm 9

• Verses 1-2 (KJV): “¹I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth thy marvelous works. ²I will be glad and rejoice in thee. I will sing praise to thy name O thou most High.”

 

* Psalm 18: After Saul stopped chasing David (2 Samuel 22) 

• Verses 6-9 (TNIV): “⁶In my distress I called to the LORD; / I cried to my God for help. / From his temple he heard my voice; / my cry came before him, into his ears. / ⁷The earth trembled and quaked, / and the foundations of the mountains shook; / they trembled because he was angry. / ⁸Smoke rose from his nostrils; / consuming fire came from his mouth, / burning coals blazed out of it. / ⁹He parted the heavens and came down; / dark clouds were under his feet.

 

* Psalm 23: The LORD, My Shepherd

• NLT: “¹The Lord is my shepherd; / I have all that I need. / ²He lets me rest in green meadows; / he leads me beside peaceful streams. / ³He renews my strength. / He guides me along right paths, / bringing honor to his name. / ⁴Even when I walk through the darkest valley, / I will not be afraid, / for you are close beside me. / Your rod and your staff / protect and comfort me. / ⁵You prepare a feast for me / in the presence of my enemies. / You honor me by anointing my head with oil. / My cup overflows with blessings. / ⁶Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me / all the days of my life, / and I will live in the house of the Lord.”

* Psalm 24: Lift Up Your Heads!

• Verses 7-10: ⁷Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. ⁸Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.  ⁹Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. ¹⁰Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

* Psalm 32: Repentance

• Verses 1-7 (NLV): “¹How happy he is whose wrong-doing is forgiven, and whose sin is covered! ²How happy is the man whose sin the Lord does not hold against him, and in whose spirit there is nothing false. ³When I kept quiet about my sin, my bones wasted away from crying all day long. ⁴For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me. My strength was dried up as in the hot summer. ⁵I told my sin to You. I did not hide my wrong-doing. I said, ‘I will tell my sins to the Lord.’ And You forgave the guilt of my sin. ⁶So let all who are God-like pray to You while You may be found, because in the floods of much water, they will not touch him. ⁷You are my hiding place. You keep me safe from trouble. All around me are your songs of being made free.”

* Psalm 34: Taste and See

• Verse 1 (KJV): “I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
• Verse 3 (KJV): “O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”
• Verse 7 (NCV): “If you honor the LORD, His angel will protect you.”
• Verse 8 (KJV): “O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.”
• Verses 19-20 (GNT): ^“9Good people suffer many troubles, / but the Lord saves them from them all; ²⁰the Lord preserves them completely; not one of their bones is broken. The people were in great distress. “

* Psalm 37: Righteous Never Forsaken

• Verses 23-26 (NLT): ²³The Lord directs the steps of the godly / He delights in every detail of their lives. / ²⁴Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand. / ²⁵ Once I was young, and now I am old. / Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned / or their children begging for bread. ²⁶ The godly always give generous loans to others, and their children are a blessing.

* Psalm 40: He Brought Me Out

• Verses 1-3 (KJV): ¹I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. ²He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. ³And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.