Wisdom and Songbooks

 The wisdom and song books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs come between the historical books and the Old Testament prophetic books in the English Bible. These sacred Scriptures are filled with poetry, hymns, and prayers. Biblical scholars believe Solomon wrote many of the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, and David wrote many of the Psalms. The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) includes wisdom and songbooks as part of the Writings (Ketuvim). The Writings include the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra/Nehemiah, and Chronicles. The main theme of the Writings is the importance of fearing and honoring the Sovereign LORD God, obeying His commandments, and shunning (rejecting) Satan’s evildoing, as such good living brings true wisdom. These books focus on walking and living blameless lives, doing what is good and right, and wholehearted faith and obedience to the Sovereign LORD God. The Writings teach that the Sovereign LORD God created the world through wisdom, who has existed since the beginning of time. The living Sovereign LORD God, with His Son Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit as One, is the Creator and Sustainer of all life. The New Testament attributes all wisdom and truth to Christ Jesus. When one lives wisely, one lives in harmony with God and creation. The Sovereign LORD God gives everyone His wisdom, guidance, and understanding when we ask and seek Him through prayer. The Writings discuss human nature, life issues, and the importance of morality and good living. The book of Job discusses why bad things and suffering happen to good and righteous people like Job. In the book, righteous Job suffers hard times and a series of traumas, including the death of his children. Jobs’s friends believe that Job’s tragedies resulted from his sinful living. However, the Sovereign LORD God allowed Job’s temporary suffering to prove Job’s righteousness to Satan, and in the end, Job received double blessings and restoration from the Sovereign LORD God. The book of Proverbs embraces all areas of life and teaches that following wisdom leads to true life and joy, while following folly and foolishness leads to destruction and death. Proverbs uses a good wife and a wicked woman to highlight the goodness of wisdom and the destruction of foolish living. The book of Proverbs teaches that God’s favor and blessings come to those living lives with integrity, truth, and righteousness (goodness). The book of Ecclesiastes discusses life’s meaninglessness and vanity under the sun without God, who gives life true meaning and purpose. Ecclesiastes teaches that riches, fame, possession, pleasures, education, and hard work are all meaningless and vanity without fearing and obeying the Sovereign LORD God and obeying His commandments.  The book of Psalms, with 150 hymns of praises and prayers, focuses on wholehearted trust and worship of the Sovereign LORD God. The Song of Songs focuses on romantic and passionate love between a man and a woman. Many biblical scholars see the Song of Songs as a picture of God’s endless love for the world and His longing for fellowship and union with His creation. 

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