Poetry of the Bible

Psalms

Psalms is usually credited to King David although some were written by his chief musician. They are filled with praise and honor toward God. We also find David's appeals to God during his times of trouble.

I Chronicles 25:1 "Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals; and the number of the workmen according to their service was:" It goes on to name them.

So I think we can conclude that the book of Psalm was a direct result of the instructions of David to sing Praise to the Lord.

They are also historical. You can relate many of the Psalms to events in David's life.

It is said (I have not counted to confirm it) that Psalm 119 is the middle book of the Bible. It is all about the word of God and that in itself is amazing.

Psalm 119:9 "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word."

For me, Psalm 22,23,24 stand out. We all know of Psalm 23 "The LORD is my shepherd..."
I have long look at the three books as belonging together. Psalm 22 describes the sufferings of Christ. Psalm 24 talks about the king of glory. Psalm 23 deals with the good shepherd and is beautiful. I have thought for some time that if 22 is the suffering and 24 is the glory then 23 must fall in between in someway in regard to Christ's suffering. I like to think that as he prayed in the garden and confirmed his acceptance of the cross that Psalm 23 was the peace he felt inside as it so boldly walked to the mob and declared that He was the one they sought. While they beat him and drove the spikes, he was beside still waters. Anyway, I can see the picture in my mind, although I don't know if any agree. Psalm 23 can be the state of mind for a Christian during suffering and affliction. We must learn to rise above the troubles of this life through our faith and the grace of God.

Psalm 23:4 "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; they rod and thy staff they comfort me."

Proverbs

King Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead his people. In his writings he imparts some of that wisdom to us. It is filled with practical things often telling young men how to avoid the pitfalls of life.

Ecclesiastes or

The Preacher is a view from man's point-of-view or perhaps the hopelessness of self efforts in the face of eternity and judgment. It is from the natural man and provides us contrast. I must admit that I do not totally understand it and the words 'all is vanity' seems depressing. So, in these pages we can see the helplessness of man apart from redemption and God's salvation plan.

Song of Solomon

Using the purity of marriage and love, a description and even prophecy of the love of Christ and the church in a language that might seem quite blunt in an unspiritual thought and mysterious in some ways. To a spiritual mind it depicts a pure relationship that almost causes one to pull away from the impact it has on the heart.

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 "Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned. "

I am debating on whether to go through these books now or go on to Isaiah.