The Grace of God in the Bible (By Dane Ortlund) (Repost From Dane's Blog) There is always a danger of squeezing the Bible into a mold we bring to it rather than letting the Bible mold us. And, there could hardly be more diversity within the Protestant canon--diverse genres, historical settings, authors, literary levels, ages of history.

But while the Bible is not uniform, it is unified. The many books of the one Bible are not like the many pennies in the one jar. The pennies in the jar look the same, yet are disconnected; the books of the Bible (like the organs of a body) look different, yet are interconnected. As the past two generations' recovery of biblical theology has shown time and again, certain motifs course through the Scripture from start to end, tying the whole thing together into a coherent tapestry--kingdom, temple, people of God, creation/new creation, and so on.

Yet underneath and undergirding all of these, it seems to me, is the motif of God's grace, his perplexing favor and love to the undeserving. Don't we see the grace of God in every book of the Bible? (NT books include the single verse that best crystallizes the point.)

Genesis shows God’s grace to a universally wicked world as he enters into relationship with a sinful family line (Abraham) and promises to bless the world through him.

Exodus shows God’s grace to his enslaved people in bringing them out of Egyptian bondage.

Leviticus shows God’s grace in providing his people with a sacrificial system to atone for their sins.

Numbers shows God’s grace in patiently sustaining his grumbling people in the wilderness and bringing them to the border of the promised land not because of them but in spite of them.

Deuteronomy shows God’s grace in giving the people the new land “not because of your righteousness” (ch. 9).

Joshua shows God’s grace in giving Israel victory after victory in their conquest of the land with neither superior numbers nor superior obedience on Israel’s part.

Judges shows God’s grace in taking sinful, weak Israelites as leaders and using them to purge the land, time and again, of foreign incursion and idolatry.

Ruth shows God’s grace in incorporating a poverty-stricken, desolate, foreign woman into the line of Christ.

1 and 2 Samuel show God’s grace in establishing the throne (forever—2 Sam 7) of an adulterous murderer.

1 and 2 Kings show God’s grace in repeatedly prolonging the exacting of justice and judgment for kingly sin “for the sake of” David. (And remember: by the ancient hermeneutical presupposition of corporate solidarity, by which the one stands for the many and the many for the one, the king represented the people; the people were in their king; as the king went, so went they.)

1 and 2 Chronicles show God’s grace by continually reassuring the returning exiles of God’s self-initiated promises to David and his sons.

Ezra shows God’s grace to Israel in working through the most powerful pagan ruler of the time (Cyrus) to bring his people back home to a rebuilt temple.

Nehemiah shows God’s grace in providing for the rebuilding of the walls of the city that represented the heart of God’s promises to his people.

Esther shows God’s grace in protecting his people from a Persian plot to eradicate them through a string of 'fortuitous' events.

Job shows God’s grace in vindicating the sufferer’s cry that his redeemer lives (19:25), who will put all things right in this world or the next.

Psalms shows God’s grace by reminding us of, and leading us in expressing, the hesed (relentless covenant love) God has for his people and the refuge that he is for them.

Proverbs shows us God’s grace by opening up to us a world of wisdom in leading a life of happy godliness.

Ecclesiastes shows God’s grace in its earthy reminder that the good things of life can never be pursued as the ultimate things of life and that it is God who in his mercy satisfies sinners (note 7:20; 8:11).

Song of Songs shows God’s grace and love for his bride by giving us a faint echo of it in the pleasures of faithful human sexuality.

Isaiah shows God’s grace by reassuring us of his presence with and restoration of contrite sinners.

Jeremiah shows God’s grace in promising a new and better covenant, one in which knowledge of God will be universally internalized.

Lamentations shows God’s grace in his unfailing faithfulness in the midst of sadness.

Ezekiel shows God’s grace in the divine heart surgery that cleansingly replaces stony hearts with fleshy ones.

Daniel shows God’s grace in its repeated miraculous preservation of his servants.

Hosea shows God’s grace in a real-live depiction of God’s unstoppable love toward his whoring wife.

Joel shows God’s grace in the promise to pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

Amos shows God’s grace in the Lord's climactic promise of restoration in spite of rampant corruption.

Obadiah shows God’s grace by promising judgment on Edom, Israel’s oppressor, and restoration of Israel to the land in spite of current Babylonian captivity.

Jonah shows God’s grace toward both immoral Nineveh and moral Jonah, irreligious pagans and a religious prophet, both of whom need and both of whom receive the grace of God.

Micah shows God’s grace in the prophecy’s repeated wonder at God’s strange insistence on “pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression” (7:18).

Nahum shows God’s grace in assuring Israel of “good news” and “peace,” promising that the Assyrians have tormented them for the last time.

Habakkuk shows God’s grace that requires nothing but trusting faith amid insurmountable opposition, freeing us to rejoice in God even in desolation.

Zephaniah shows God’s grace in the Lord's exultant singing over his recalcitrant yet beloved people.

Haggai shows God’s grace in promising a wayward people that the latter glory of God’s (temple-ing) presence with them will far surpass its former glory.

Zechariah shows God’s grace in the divine pledge to open up a fountain for God’s people to 'cleanse them from sin and uncleanness' (13:1).

Malachi shows God’s grace by declaring the Lord’s no-strings-attached love for his people.

Matthew shows God’s grace in fulfilling the Old Testament promises of a coming king. (5:17)

Mark shows God’s grace as this coming king suffers the fate of a common criminal to buy back sinners. (10:45)

Luke shows that God’s grace extends to all the people one would not expect: hookers, the poor, tax collectors, sinners, Gentiles ('younger sons'). (19:10)

John shows God’s grace in becoming one of us, flesh and blood (1:14), and dying and rising again so that by believing we might have life in his name. (20:31)

Acts shows God’s grace flooding out to all the world--starting in Jerusalem, ending in Rome; starting with Peter, apostle to the Jews, ending with Paul, apostle to the Gentiles. (1:8)

Romans shows God’s grace in Christ to the ungodly (4:5) while they were still sinners (5:8) that washes over both Jew and Gentile.

1 Corinthians shows God’s grace in favoring what is lowly and foolish in the world. (1:27)

2 Corinthians shows God’s grace in channeling his power through weakness rather than strength. (12:9)

Galatians shows God’s grace in justifying both Jew and Gentile by Christ-directed faith rather than self-directed performance. (2:16)

Ephesians shows God’s grace in the divine resolution to unite us to his Son before time began. (1:4)

Philippians shows God’s grace in Christ’s humiliating death on an instrument of torture—for us. (2:8)

Colossians shows God’s grace in nailing to the cross the record of debt that stood against us. (2:14)

1 Thessalonians shows God’s grace in providing the hope-igniting guarantee that Christ will return again. (4:13)

2 Thessalonians shows God’s grace in choosing us before time, that we might withstand Christ’s greatest enemy. (2:13)

1 Timothy shows God’s grace in the radical mercy shown to 'the chief of sinners.' (1:15)

2 Timothy shows God’s grace to be that which began (1:9) and that which fuels (2:1) the Christian life.

Titus shows God’s grace in saving us by his own cleansing mercy when we were most mired in sinful passions. (3:5)

Philemon shows God’s grace in transcending socially hierarchical structures with the deeper bond of Christ-won Christian brotherhood. (v. 16)

Hebrews shows God’s grace in giving his Son to be both our sacrifice to atone for us once and for all as well as our high priest to intercede for us forever. (9:12)

James shows us God’s grace by giving to those who have been born again 'of his own will' (1:18) 'wisdom from above' for meaningful godly living. (3:17)

1 Peter shows God’s grace in securing for us an unfading, imperishable inheritance no matter what we suffer in this life. (1:4)

2 Peter shows God’s grace in guaranteeing the inevitability that one day all will be put right as the evil that has masqueraded as good will be unmasked at the coming Day of the Lord. (3:10)

1 John shows God’s grace in adopting us as his children. (3:1)

2 and 3 John show God’s grace in reminding specific individuals of 'the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever.' (2 Jn 2)

Jude shows God’s grace in the Christ who presents us blameless before God in a world rife with moral chaos. (v. 24)

Revelation shows God’s grace in preserving his people through cataclysmic suffering, a preservation founded on the shed blood of the lamb. (12:11)

One of the greatest things we can learn from the apostle Paul is how to pray. As we begin our journey through Philippians by focusing on one of Paul's heart-felt, Gospel-motivated, God-glorifying prayers, I thought I would repost a short collection of some of Paul's prayers. Pick some passages and pray them for Redeemer. Pick some other passages and pray them for some other churches. Romans 15.5-6 5May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, 6that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 15.13 13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Ephesians 1.16-19 15For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, 16I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 3.14-21 14For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Philippians 1.3-11 3 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. 7It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. 8For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Colossians 1.9-12 9And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

2 Thessalonians 1.11-12 11To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, 12so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13.20-21

(I realize Paul’s authorship of this letter is contested but I couldn’t leave this prayer out of the short list.) 20Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, 21 equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

For the last month or so we have blogged through Fee and Stuart's book, How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth. The foundational lessons that Fee and Stuart provide are very helpful in studying God's Word, which is valuable beyond description. Above all helps that Fee and Stuart provide, our greatest need in understanding God's Word is the help of the Holy Spirit. The only way for God's Word to be wonderful to us is if God Himself opens our minds and hearts and eyes to cherish the Bible for what it is. Pray that God would show you wonderful things in His Word, and as He does, thank Him and praise Him. Here is a pdf of all the posts from Fee and Stuart's book.

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The Nature of Revelation:The hermeneutical problems are intrinsic. The book is in the canon; thus it is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yet when we come to hear that Word, most of us in the church today hardly know what to make of it. At the same time, however, there is a rich, diverse symbolism, some of which is manageable while some is obscure. Most of the problems stem from the symbols, plus the fact that the book deals with future events, but at the same time is set in a recognizable first-century context.

The first key to the exegesis of Revelation is to examine the kind of literature it is. Revelation is a unique, finely blended combination of three distinct literary types: apocalypse, prophecy, and letter. Furthermore, the basic type, apocalypse, is a literary form that does not exist today.

The Revelation as Apocalypse: The Revelation is primarily an apocalypse. Some of the common characteristics of an apocalypse follow.

1. Apocalyptic literature was concerned with judgment and salvation. Its great concern was no longer with God’s activity within history. The apocalyptics looked exclusively forward to the time that God would bring a violent end to history.

2. Apocalypses are literary works from the beginning. John was told to write what he had seen not to verbally communicate it.

3. Most frequently the stuff of apocalyptic is presented in the form of visions or dreams, and its language is cryptic and symbolic. Therefore, most of the apocalypses contained literary devices intended to give the book a sense of hoary age. The most important of these devices was pseudonymity, that is, they were given the appearance of having been written by ancient worthies, who were told to seal up their writing for a later day.

4. The images in this writing are often forms of fantasy, rather than reality.

5. Most are very formally stylized. There was a strong tendency to divide time and events into neat packages. There was also a great fondness for the symbolic use of numbers and symbols. As a consequence, the final product usually has the visions in carefully arranged, often numbered, sets. Frequently these sets, when put together, express something without necessarily trying to suggest that each separate picture follows hard on the heel of the former.

The Revelation of John fits all of these categories but one. And that one difference is so important that in some ways it becomes a world of its own. Revelation is not Pseudonymous. John made himself know to his readers. He also did not seal up the book because he was inspired to distribute the message now.

The Revelation as Prophecy: John calls his book “this prophecy,” and says that the “testimony of Jesus,” for which he and the churches are suffering “is the spirit of prophecy.” This probably means that the message of Jesus, attested by him and to which John and the churches bear witness, is the clear evidence that the prophetic Spirit had come. Therefore, what makes John’s Apocalypse different is the combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements. John clearly intends this book to be a prophetic word to the church. It was a word from God for their present situation.

The Revelation as Epistle: It must be noted that this combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements has been cast into the form of a letter. John speaks to his reader in the first/second person formula. The significance of this is that there is an occasional aspect to the Revelation. It was occasioned at least in part by the needs of the specific church to which it was addressed. Therefore, to interpret, we must try to understand its original historical context.

The Necessity of Exegesis: Exegesis is especially important when studying Revelation. It is the lack of this that has lead to so many speculative and bad interpretations.

1. The first task is to seek the author’s original intent. The primary meaning of Revelation is what John intended it to mean, which in turn must also have been something his readers could have understood it to mean.

2. Since the Revelation intends to be prophetic, one must be open to the possibility of a second, higher meaning, inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, such a meaning lies beyond what we can correctly define. Therefore, what we need to do is understand what John was intending his original readers to hear and understand.

3. One must be careful to not overuse the analogy of Scripture when interpreting Revelation. The analogy of Scripture means that Scripture is to be interpreted in the light of other Scripture. Therefore any keys to interpreting Revelation must be intrinsic to the text of the Revelation itself or otherwise available to the original recipients from their own historical context.

4. Because of the apocalyptic nature of the book there can be some exegetical problems specifically in regards to some on the imagery.

a. One must have sensitivity to the rich background of ideas that have gone into the composition of the Revelation. The chief source of these ideas and images is the Old Testament, but John has derived images from apocalyptic and even from ancient mythology.

b. Apocalyptic images are of several kinds

c. When John interprets his images, these interpreted images must be held firmly and must serve as a starting point for understanding others.

d. One must see the visions as wholes and not allegorically press all the details. In this matter the visions are like parables. The whole vision is trying to say something; the details are either (1) for dramatic effect, (2) to add to the picture of the whole so that the readers will not mistake the points of reference.

5. Apocalypses in general, and the Revelation in particular, seldom intend to give a detailed, chronological account of the future. John’s concern is that, despite present appearances, God is in control of history and the church. And even though the church will experience suffering and death, it will be triumphant in Christ, who will judge his enemies and save his people.

The Historical Context: The place to begin one’s exegesis is with provisional reconstruction of the situation that it was written. Try to read it all in one sitting, reading it for the big picture. As you read take notes on the main points, the author and his readers. Understanding that John wrote this book while in exile is crucial in understanding the occasion of the letter.

The main themes are abundantly clear. Church and state are on a collision course; and the initial victory will appear to belong to the state. But the prophetic word is one of encouragement; for God is in control of all things. God will finally pour out his wrath upon those who caused suffering and death and bring eternal rest to those who remain faithful.

It is also important to understand the distinction that John makes between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation (suffering and death) is clearly part of what the church was enduring and was yet to endure. God’s wrath on the other hand, is his judgment that is to be poured out upon those who have afflicted God’s people.

The Literary Context: To understand any one of the specific visions on the Revelation it is especially important not only to wrestle with the background and meaning of the images (the content questions) but also to ask how a particular vision functions in the book as a whole. One must think paragraphs because every paragraph is a building block for the whole argument. The book is creatively structured whole, and each vision is an integral part of that whole.

The Hermeneutical Questions: The hermeneutical difficulties with the Revelation are much like those of the prophetic books. As with all other genres, God’s Word to us is to be found first of all in his Word to them. But in contrast the Prophets the Revelation often speaks about things yet to be.

Our difficulties do not lie with understanding God’s Word of warning and comfort. Our difficulties lie with that other phenomenon of prophecy, namely that the temporal world is often so closely tied to the final eschatological realities.

1. We need to learn that pictures of the future are just that—pictures. Thus when the four trumpets proclaim calamities on nature as a part of God’s judgment, we must not necessarily expect a literal fulfillment of those pictures.

2. Some of the pictures that were intended primarily to express the certainty of God’s judgment must not also be interpreted to mean soon-ness, at least from our limited perspective.

3. The pictures where the temporal is closely tied to the eschatological should not be viewed as simultaneous. The eschatological dimension of the judgments and of the salvation should alert us to the possibility of a not-yet dimension to many of the pictures.

4. Although there are probably many instances where there is a second, yet to be fulfilled, dimension to the pictures, we have been given no keys as to how we are to pin these down.

5. The pictures that were intended to be totally eschatological are still to be taken so. This we should affirm as God’s Word yet to be fulfilled. But even these are pictures; the fulfillment will be in God’s own time, in his own way.

Just as the opening word of Scripture speaks of God and creation, so the concluding words speak of God and consummation. If there are some ambiguities for us as to how all the details are to work out, there is no ambiguity as to the certainty that God will work it all out—in his time and in his way. Such certainty should serve for us, as for them, to warn and to encourage.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Nature of Wisdom:Three Old Testament books are commonly know as wisdom books. Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Job. Also a number of Psalms can be included into this category. Finally, there is the Song of Songs, also commonly called the Song of Solomon.  All of these books contain a great deal of material considered to be wisdom. Wisdom, as it applies to Christians is, the ability to make godly choices in life.

Abuse of Wisdom Literature: Traditionally the Wisdom books have been misused in three different ways. (1) People often read these books in parts. They fail to see that there is an overall message according to the inspired author’s intentions. (2) People often misunderstand wisdom terms and categories as well as wisdom styles and literary modes. Thus they misdefine the terms used in the Bible in wisdom contexts. (3) People often fail to follow the line of argument in a wisdom discourse. Accordingly, they try to live by what was intended to be understood as incorrect.

Who Is Wise? Wisdom is not something theoretical and abstract—it is something that exist only when a person thinks and acts according to the truth, as he or she makes many choices that life demands. The wise person is highly practical not just theoretical. Wisdom literature sought to evaluate how best to make life’s choices, while remaining grounded in the only good choices or godly choices. The very first step in biblical wisdom is knowing God, not abstractly or theoretically, but in the concrete sense of committing your life to him. Wisdom literature then, tends to focus on people and their ability to make godly choices and whether or not they are learning how to apply God’s truth to the experiences they have.

The Limits of Wisdom: It is important to remember that not all wisdom in the ancient world was godly or orthodox. Moreover, wisdom does not cover all of life. Intensely practical, it tends not to touch upon the theological or historical issues so important elsewhere in the Bible. Remember that only when wisdom as a skill, is subordinate to obedience to God, does it achieve its proper ends in the sense of the Old Testament means.

Ecclesiastes: Cynical Wisdom This book is a wisdom monologue that is often puzzling to those who read it carefully. Its consistent message throughout (until the last verses) is that the reality of life and finality of death mean that life has no ultimate value. If we are all going to die anyway who cares if you’re good or not?

Everything about the book, everything but the final two verses, represents a brilliant, artful argument for the way one would look at life—if God did not play a direct, intervening role in life and if there were no life after death. The true aim of the book, however, is to show that such a view of life would leave you cold. When one relegates God to a position way out there away from us, irrelevant to our lives, then Ecclesiastes is the result. The book thus serves as a reverse apologetic for cynical wisdom; it drives its readers to look further because the answers that the author of this book gives are so discouraging.

Wisdom In Job: The book of Job contains all sorts of wrong advice and incorrect conclusions as they come from the lips of Job’s well-meaning “comforters.” This book takes the form of a highly structured conversation or dialogue.

Job’s comforters represent the viewpoint that God is not simply involved but is constantly meting out his judgment through the events of Job’s life. They express the commentary that what happens to you in life, good or ill, is a direct result of whether you have pleased God or not. Their message is that when life goes well for a person, that is a sign that he or she has chosen to do what is good, but when things go bad, it is obvious that that person has sinned against God.

The reader of the book of Job learns what is simply the world’s wisdom, seemingly logical but actually wrong, and what constitutes God’s wisdom and what builds confidence in God’s sovereignty and righteousness. Thus the dialogue and the story line combine to make the Old Testament’s paramount exemplar of speculative wisdom.

Wisdom In Proverbs: The book of Proverbs is the primary locus of prudential wisdom—that is, rules and regulations people can use to help themselves make responsible, successful choices in life. Proverbial wisdom focuses mostly on practical attitudes.

An important thing to remember about Proverbs is that in Hebrew they are called meshallim (figure of speech, parable, or specially contrived saying). A proverb is a brief, particular expression of truth. The briefer the statement the less likely it is to be totally precise and universally applicable. They must be understood reasonably and taken on their own terms. They do not state everything about a truth but point toward it. They tend to use figurative language and express things suggestively rather than in detail. Proverbs can also be like parables in that they express their truth in a symbolic way.

Proverbs are not a categorical, always applicable, ironclad promises, but a more general truth; it teaches that lives according to God and lived according to his will succeed according to God’s definition of success. When the Proverbs, then, are taken on their own terms, and understood as a special category of suggestive truth that they are, they become important and useful adjuncts for living.

Some Hermenuetical Guidelines: Proverbs state a wise way to approach certain selected practical goals but do so in terms that cannot be treated like a divine warranty of success. The particular blessings, rewards, and opportunities mentioned in Proverbs are likely to follow if one will choose the wise courses of actions outlined in the poetical, figurative language of the book.

If you approach Proverbs from a literalistic, extreme interpretation, you will miss the point of the proverb. A proverb frames the truth, in specific, narrow terms that are intended to point toward the broader principle rather than to express something technically.

Each inspired proverb must be balanced with others and understood in comparison with the rest of Scripture. Moreover, you must guard against letting their practical concern with material things and this world make you forget the balancing value of other Scriptures that warn against materialism and worldliness.

No proverb is a complete statement of truth. No proverb is so perfectly worded that it can stand up to the unreasonable demand that it apply to every situation at every time. The more briefly and parabolically a principle is stated, the more common sense is needed to interpret it properly. Proverbs tries to impart knowledge that can be retained rather than philosophy that can impress a critic.

Many proverbs express their truths according to practices and institutions that no longer exist, although they were common to Old Testament Israelites. Unless you think of these proverbs in terms of their modern equivalents their meaning may seem irrelevant or be lost to you altogether. Following is a list of some rules that will help you make proper use of proverbs and be true to their divinely inspired intent.

1.    Proverbs are often parabolic, i.e., figurative, pointing beyond themselves.

2.    Proverbs are intensely practical, not theoretically theological

3.    Proverbs are worded to be memorable, not technically precise.

4.    Proverbs are not designed to support selfish behavior—just the opposite.

5.    Proverbs strongly reflecting ancient culture may need sensible translation so as to not lose their meaning.

6.    Proverbs are not guarantees from God, but poetic guidelines for good behavior.

7.    Proverbs may use highly specific language, exaggeration, or any a variety of literary techniques to make their point.

8.    Proverbs give good advice for wise approaches to certain aspects of life, but are not exhaustive in their coverage.

9.    Wrongly used, Proverbs might justify a crass, materialistic lifestyle. Rightly used, they will provide practical advice for daily living.

Wisdom in the Song of Songs: The Song of Songs is a lengthy love song. It is an extended ballad of human romance, written in a style of the Near Ancient Eastern lyric poetry. The focus of this book is to provide its readers with the answers of whom to love and how to love. These are the two issues that the Song is mainly concerned with.

The Song has had a long tradition of odd translation, based on a combination of two common kinds of hermeneutical mistakes: totality transfer and allegorizing. Totality transfer is the tendency to think that all the possible features and meanings of a word or concept come with it whenever it is used. Allegorizing is interpreting writing as a figurative form that leads to abstract ideas about what the text is saying.

Here are some of the considerations that will help you use the Song in the way Scripture intends:

1. Try to appreciate the overall ethical context of the Song of Songs. Monogamous, heterosexual marriage was the proper context for sexual activity, according to God’s revelation in the Old Testament, and God-fearing Israelites would regard the Song in that light. The attitude of the Song is the very antithesis of unfaithfulness, either before or after marriage. Marriage consummates and continues love between a man and a woman. That is what the Song points towards.

2. Be aware of the genre of the Song. Its closet parallels are indeed love poetry of the Old Testament and elsewhere in ancient Near East, the context of which was not just love of any kind, but attraction in marriage. There is a solid moral overtone and a focusing of love into the right context.

3. Read the Song as suggesting godly choices rather than describing them in a technical manner. They are true as suggestions and generalizations rather than precise statements of universal fact.

4. Be aware that the Song focuses on very different values from those of modern culture. Our culture encourages people to fulfill themselves, whatever their sexual tastes, whereas the Song is concerned with how one person can respond faithfully to the attractiveness of and fulfill the needs of another. In the Song, romance is something that should continue throughout and actually characterize marriage.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Psalms are a collection of inspired Hebrew prayers and hymns. The fact that the Psalms are often appended to copies of the New Testament and that they are used so often in worship and meditation has given this particular book a certain prominence. Yet despite the fact that they are well known, they are also misunderstood. The problem with interpreting the Psalms arises primarily from their nature—what they are. Because the Bible is God’s Word, most Christians automatically assume that all it contains are words from God to people. In fact the Bible also contains words spoken to God or about God, and that these words, too, are God’s Word.

The Psalms are not propositions, or imperatives, or stories that illustrate doctrines, they do not function primarily for the teaching of doctrine or moral behavior. They are profitable when used for the purpose for which they were intended by God. (1) For us to express ourselves to God, (2) and to consider his ways.

Some Preliminary Exegetical Observations: When reading the Psalms you must understand their nature, including their various types, as well as their forms and function.

The Psalms as Poetry: The most important thing to remember when studying the Psalms is that they are poems; musical poems. It is important to familiarize yourself with Hebrew poetry as we did in regards to the Prophetical books, but there are also special points that need to be addressed in connection with the Psalms.

1. One needs to be aware that Hebrew poetry, by it very nature, was addressed, as it were, to the mind through the heart (i.e., much of the language is intentionally emotive). Therefore, you need to be careful in over exegeting the Psalms by finding special meanings in every word or phrase.

2. The Psalms are not just any kind of poem; they are musical poems. It is intended to have emotions, to evoke feelings rather than propositional thinking, and to stimulate a response on the part of the individual that goes beyond mere cognitive understanding of certain facts. While the Psalms contain and reflect doctrine, they are hardly repositories for doctrinal exposition. When you read a Psalm make sure that you do not derive from it meanings that were not intended by the musical poet who was inspired to write it.

3. It is also important to remember that the vocabulary of poetry is purposefully metaphorical. Thus one must take care to look for the point of the metaphor. An inability to appreciate symbolic language (metaphor and simile) and to translate into actual fact the more abstract symbolic notions of the psalm could lead a person to misapply it almost entirely.

The Psalms as Literature: When studying the Psalms it is important to recognize certain literary features. Failure to note these features can lead to several errors of interpreting and application.

1. The Psalms are of several different types. It is important to realize that the Israelites knew all of the types. Therefore, to truly understand the Psalms one must invest the time to learn all of the types as well.

2. Each of the Psalms is also characterized by its form. By form we mean the particular type, as determined by the characteristics (especially structure) that it shares with other psalms of its type. When one understands the structure of a Psalm then one can follow what is happening in the psalm.

3. Each of the types of psalms is also intended to have a given function in the life of Israel. Each psalm has an intended purpose. It is not reasonable, for example, to take a royal psalm, which had its original function in the celebration of Israel’s kingship as God endowed it, and read this at a wedding.

4. One must learn to recognize various patterns within the Psalms.

5. Each psalm must be read as a literary unit. The Psalms are to be treated as wholes, not atomized into single verses or thought of as many pearls on a string. Each psalm has a pattern of development by which its ideas are presented, developed, and brought to some kind of conclusion.

The Use of Psalms In Ancient Israel: The Psalms were functional songs. By functional we mean that they were not simply used as hymns are sometimes used today, spacing material to separate out parts of a worship service in preparation for the sermon. The Psalms served a crucial function of making connection between the worshiper and God. Therefore, the Psalms are very good at remaining applicable in all ages.

Eventually the Psalms were divided into five books. Book 1 (1-41); Book 2 (42-72); Book 3 (73-89); Book 4 (90-106); Book 5 (107-150).

The Types of Psalms It is possible to group the Psalms into seven different categories. These categories serve well to classify the Psalms and thus guide the reader toward good use of them.

1. Lament: Laments constitute the largest groups of psalms in the Psalter. There are more than sixty, including several corporate laments. Individual laments help a person express struggles, suffering, or disappointment to the Lord. Corporate laments do the same for a group rather than for an individual. The laments in the book of Psalms express with a deep, honest fervor the distress the people felt, therefore serving as a valuable tool for expression of concern to the Lord.

2. Thanksgiving Psalms: These psalms expressed joy to the Lord because something had gone well, or circumstances were good, and/or because people had a reason to render thanks to God for his faithfulness, and benefit. There are both community and individual psalms of thanksgiving.

3. Hymns of Praise: These psalms, without particular reference to previous miseries or to recent joyful accomplishments, center on the praise of God for who he is, for his greatness and his beneficence toward the whole earth, as well as his own people. God deserves praise. These psalms are especially adapted for individual or group praise in worship.

4. Salvation History Psalms: These psalms have as their focus a review of the history of God’s saving work’s among the people of Israel, especially his deliverance of them from bondage in Egypt and his creation of them as a people.

5. Psalms of Celebration and Affirmation: In this category include several kinds of psalms, all of which deal with different aspects of celebration and/or affirmation.

Covenant Renewal Liturgies: Designed to lead God’s people to a renewal of the covenant he first gave to them on Mount Sinai. These psalms serve effectively as worship guidelines for a service of renewal.

Davidic Covenant Psalms: These psalms praise the importance of God’s choice of the lineage of David. These psalms provide background for his messianic ministry.

Royal Psalms: There are nine psalms that deal especially with the kingship. The kingship in ancient Israel was an important institution, because through it God provided stability and protection. God works through intermediaries in society, and the praise function of these intermediaries is what we find in the royal psalms.

Enthronement Psalms: These psalms celebrate the enthronement of the king in ancient Israel, a ceremony that may have been repeated yearly. Some believe that they represent also the enthronement of the Lord himself, and were used as liturgies for some sort of ceremony which celebrated this.

Song of Zion or Songs of the City of Jerusalem: According to the predictions of God through Moses to the Israelites while they were in the wilderness, Jerusalem became the central city of Israel. Inasmuch as the New Testament makes much of the symbol of a New Jerusalem (heaven) these Psalms remain useful in Christian worship.

6. Wisdom Psalms: Eight Psalms can be place in this category. Also Proverbs chapter 8 is considered a psalm, praising as all of them do, the merits of wisdom and the wise life. These psalms can be read profitably along with the book of Proverbs.

7. Songs of Trust: Ten psalms that center their attention upon the fact that God may be trusted, and that even in times of despair, his goodness and care for his people ought to be expressed. God delights in knowing that those who believe in him trust him for their lives and for what he will choose to give them. These psalms can help us express our trust on God, whether we are doing well or not.

Some Concluding Hermeneutical Observations: How do these words spoken to God function for us as a Word from God? Precisely in the ways they functioned in Israel in the first place—as opportunities to speak to God in words he inspired others to speak to him in times of past.

Three Basic Benefits of the Psalms: From the use of the Psalms both in ancient Israel and in the New Testament church we can see three important ways in which Christians can use the Psalms.

1. Remember that the Psalms are a guide to worship. The worshipper who seeks to praise God, or to appeal to God, or to remember God’s benefit, can use Psalms as a formal means of expression of his or her thoughts and feelings. It can help express our concerns in spite of our own lack of skill to find the right words.

2. The Psalms demonstrate to us how we can relate honestly to God. One can learn from the Psalms to be honest and open in expressing joy, disappointment, anger, or other emotions. To cry to God for help, or with other emotions, is not a judgment on his faithfulness, but an affirmation of it.

3. The Psalms demonstrate the importance of reflection and meditation upon things that God has done for us. They invite us to prayer, to controlled thinking upon God’s Word (that is what meditation is), and to reflective fellowship with other believers.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)