Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes - writings of Kings, wisdom of the ages

1. GOD’S TOUCHPOINTS
Old Testament (OT) Journey
Lesson 22: Royal Verses - Psalms
Old Testament Summary
The Patriarchal Ages
The Judges
The Reign of Royalty
The Prophetic Era

2. OT Journey - The Reign of Royalty
1. From Sovereign God to Earthly Kings
2. David leverages the win-win
3. The falls and recoveries of David
4. Royal Verses – Psalms
5. Royal Wisdom – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
6. A Royal Love Story – Song of Solomon
7. Division and Downfall of Israel
8. Esther, Queen of Persia

3. Presentation Overview
• Objectives
• Introduction
• Psalm 1 – The Righteous vs. the Wicked
• Psalm 2 – Satan vs. Christ
• Recap
• Discussion

4. Objectives
To:
• Attain a big picture perspective on dimensions of human
struggle
• Gain encouragement from the eventual victory of Christ
• Perceive the instruments of Satan in the world.

5. Introduction - The Psalms
Psalm 1 and 2 provide an essence of the entire book –
representing:
• the righteous (saved) and wicked (unsaved) – Psalm 1
• The battle of the world rulers (leaders in all fields) against
Christ – Psalm 2

6. The Psalms
• The book represents:
• The struggle between these categories of people
• The war against God
• The eventual victory of Christ
• It can be seen from two perspectives
• The author’s perspective
• The inspired perspective – i.e. from the eyes of Christ when he was
a man.

7. Psalm 1 – The Righteous
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.

8. Psalm 1 – The Righteous (saved)

9. Psalm 1 – The Wicked
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the LORD watches over the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

10. Psalm 1 – The wicked
(unsaved)

11. Psalm 2 – Satan and his People
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the LORD and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
• 7 I will proclaim the LORD’s decree:

12. Psalm 2 – Christ and His People
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

13. Psalm 2 – Satan vs. Christ

14. Discussion
• Brainstorm sit, walk, stand in Ps 1:1.
• Study and contrast characteristics between the wicked
and the righteous.
• What are the shackles thrown away by leaders of the
world in Ps. 2?
• In what ways does this rebellion occur? What warnings
are given.

15. Recap
• The “wicked”: those who do not owe their allegiance to
Christ
• World leaders: governmental authorities and leaders in all
fields. They are used by Satan to fulfil His purposes
• Not being “shackled” to Christ implies being “shackled” by
Satan.
• While the wicked appear to prosper, true prosperity
belongs to the righteous.
• Christ will eventually be the world ruler, crushing all who
oppose Him.

16. References
• bereanbibleexpositios.org - Dr. Jack Scott

17. GOD’S TOUCHPOINTS
Old Testament (OT) Journey
Lesson 23: Royal Wisdom – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
Old Testament Summary
The Patriarchal Ages
The Judges
The Reign of Royalty
The Prophetic Era

18. OT Journey- The reign of Royalty
1. From Sovereign God to Earthly Kings
2. David leverages the win-win
3. The falls and recoveries of David
4. Royal Verses – Psalms
5. Royal Wisdom – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
6. A Royal Love Story – Song of Solomon
7. Division and Downfall of Israel
8. Esther, Queen of Persia

19. Presentation Overview
• The life of King Solomon
• The learnings of King Solomon

20. Objectives
To:
• Compare and contrast various types of wisdom
• Understand how the wisest man became foolish
• Learn from his mistakes
• Follow true wisdom

21. The Storyline – Life of King Solomon
• King Solomon’s request for wisdom
• The call of Lady Wisdom
• Wisdom turns to folly
• From other women to other gods
• Wisdom is meaningless
• True meaning in life
Note: While King Solomon was the main author,
there were other writers too!

22. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes - Breakdown
A Rabbinic teaching asserts that the Israelite king wrote
Proverbs in middle age, and Ecclesiastes towards the end
of his life [1]
One categorization of proverbs chapters is as follows:
• 1-9: for youth
• 10-24: general
• 25-31: For leaders
• Ecclesiastes represents his realization of His mistakes
and new perspective on life.

23. The Call of Lady Wisdom
Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of knowledge, but fools despise
wisdom and instruction.
A woman named folly
Lady Wisdom
Wickedness

24. King Solomon Chooses Wisdom
1 Kings 3:7 “Now, LORD my God,
you have made your servant king
in place of my father David. But I
am only a little child and do not
know how to carry out my
duties. 8 Your servant is here
among the people you have
chosen, a great people, too
numerous to count or
number. 9 So give your servant a
discerning heart to govern
your people and to
distinguish between right and
wrong. For who is able to govern
this great people of yours?”

25. Other Paths Beckon
1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon,
however, loved many foreign
women besides Pharaoh’s
daughter—Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians
and Hittites. 2 They were from
nations about which the LORD had
told the Israelites, “You must
not intermarry with them,
because they will surely turn your
hearts after their gods.”
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast
to them in love. 3 He had seven
hundred wives of royal birth and
three hundred concubines, and
his wives led him astray

26. From Other Women to other gods
1 Kings 11:4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned
his heart after other gods, and his heart was not
fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of
David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the
goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of
the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of
the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David
his father had done.

27. From other women to other gods
A woman named folly
(Proverbs 9)
Lady Wisdom (Proverbs 1)
Wickedness

28. When Wisdom turns to Folly
Ecclesiastes 1:16 I said to myself, “Look, I have
increased in wisdom more than anyone who has
ruled over Jerusalem before me; I have experienced much
of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 Then I applied myself to the
understanding of wisdom, and also of madness and
folly, but I learned that this, too, is a chasing after
the wind.
18 For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief.

29. How The Wisest King Failed
• King Solomon is acknowledged as the wisest King ever.
How does that match up with his own acknowledgement
that his wisdom is vanity?

31. Wisdom from Beyond
Prov 9:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of
wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is
understanding

32. The Final Verdict
Ecc 12:13 Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.

33. Recap
• Solomon’s human wisdom far surpassed others
• The resulting choices particularly marriage alliances in the
name of peace took him away from God
• His spiritual wisdom started diminishing
• His vast kingdom was on the verge of division and
downfall
• His repentance came too late for recovery
• Worldly wisdom without spiritual wisdom is vanity

34. Discussion
• What does Tolstoy’s statement and King Solomon’s
statement that life is meaningless mean?
• What does it imply?
• How do we bring meaning to a meaningless existence?

35. References
1. A. Cohen, Proverbs: Hebrew Text & English Translation
with an Introduction and Commentary, xii.