Psalm 18:30 “As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”
We have learned about the first 2 sections of the Bible, the Pentateuch and Historical Section. Next, we will be learning about “The Writings”. This section is made up of 5 books which are written in different styles of poetry.
Job
-Job was a righteous man who loved and obeyed God.
-He was blessed with 10 children and thousands of animals.
-Satan accuses Job of only loving and obeying God because of these blessings. He also claimed that Job would curse God if they were taken away.
-God allowed Satan to test him, so all of his children died and his animals were stolen. Job did not curse God, though.
-Then, his health was taken away, but he still loved and obeyed the Lord.
-3 friends come to encourage him. They end up being discouraging, though. They accuse him of suffering because of sin and being too proud to admit it. Job denies this and then begins to question God’s fairness.
-God comes down in a whirlwind, scolds Job for questioning Him and accusing Him of being unfair. God also tells Job’s friends that they have spoken wrongly of Him (yikes).
-Job is humble and admits that he was wrong.
-God blesses Job with children and animals, even more than he had before.
-Key points:
->Just because terrible things happen to people, does not mean those people are terrible.
->God is in control and there is always more going on than we can understand.
->We must trust God’s wisdom all of the time, not just when things are easy, but even when we are suffering.
->We need to focus on the lessons behind the details.
Psalms
-The largest book in the Bible (150 chapters) with songs for lots of reasons (lament, praise, thanksgiving, wisdom, Israel’s kings, celebrating God’s Law, historical, prophetic).
-There were many Psalmists, the most famous was King David. 73 of the psalms are called songs of David (written by, for, or about him).
-Many hymns and contemporary Christian songs are from the book of Psalms.
-Psalms is a book of God’s people expressing themselves to Him. It gives us words to talk to God, praise Him, worship Him, and pray to Him.
Proverbs
-31 chapters teaching on wisdom, the ability to make good choices in life.
-Conclusion: fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Ecclesiastes
-12 chapters about searching for meaning and happiness in a confusing world.
-Conclusion: fear God and follow His commandments; trust God and let Him worry about everything else.
-Look beyond the world and find happiness in Christ.
Song of Solomon (“The Song of Songs”)
-Love songs between a man and a woman.
-Love in marriage is a beautiful part of God’s creation.
Phew… next, we are onto the Prophetic Books! The Bible is awesome, huh?!
