1. 3
Wisdom Psalms

2. Review Lamentations Mashals Blessings & Curses
O.T. Mainly in Poetic Form
GNOMIC – Wisdom
LYRIC – Expressive
Lamentations
Mashals
Blessings & Curses
Many Psalms – Different Writers
1500 BC – 400 BC
David– 70+/Sons of Korah/Ethan
Devices: Assonance / Acrostic / Parallelism

3. Major Categories Wisdom Nature Word of God Penitential Worship
Suffering
Assurance
Praise
Royal

4. Wisdom Psalms

5. Experience Wisdom Psalms (Mashals/Maskil)
Short, pithy sayings of experience.

6. - Ps. 49:1-4 Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
My mouth will speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will express my riddle on the harp.
- Ps. 49:1-4

7. Listen, O my people, to my instruction;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
- Ps. 78:1-2

8. Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children,
But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,
And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.
- Ps. 78:3-4

9. - Ps. 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!
It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.
It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life forever.
- Ps. 133:1-3

10. Character Wisdom Psalms
Experience
Character
Answer the question: “How should a good man live before God?”

11. How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
- Ps. 1:1

12. But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
- Ps. 1:2

13. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
- Ps. 1:3

14. But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
- Ps. 1:4-5

15. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
- Ps. 1:6

16. O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?
- Ps. 15:1

17. He who walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And speaks truth in his heart.
- Ps. 15:2

18. He does not slander with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
- Ps. 15:3

19. In whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But who honors those who fear the Lord;
He swears to his own hurt and does not change;
- Ps. 15:4

20. He does not put out his money at interest,
Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent.
- Ps. 15:5a

21. He who does these things will never be shaken.
- Ps. 15:5b

22. Ethical Psalms Wisdom Psalms
Experience
Character
Ethical Psalms
Deal with the deeper problems of ethics and religion

23. -Ps. 49:1-4 Hear this, all peoples;
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
Both low and high,
Rich and poor together.
My mouth will speak wisdom,
And the meditation of my heart will be understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will express my riddle on the harp.
-Ps. 49:1-4

24. Why should I fear in days of adversity,
When the iniquity of my foes surrounds me,
Even those who trust in their wealth
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
-Ps. 49:5-6

25. No man can by any means redeem his brother
Or give to God a ransom for him—
For the redemption of his soul is costly,
And he should cease trying forever—
That he should live on eternally,
That he should not undergo decay.
-Ps. 49:7-9

26. For he sees that even wise men die;
The stupid and the senseless alike perish
And leave their wealth to others.
Their inner thought is that their houses are forever
And their dwelling places to all generations;
They have called their lands after their own names.
-Ps. 49:10-11

27. But man in his pomp will not endure;
He is like the beasts that perish.
- Ps. 49:12

28. - Ps. 49:13-14 This is the way of those who are foolish,
And of those after them who approve their words. Selah.
As sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
And the upright shall rule over them in the morning,
And their form shall be for Sheol to consume
So that they have no habitation.
- Ps. 49:13-14

29. But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
For He will receive me Selah.
- Ps. 49:15

30. Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich,
When the glory of his house is increased;
For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
His glory will not descend after him.
- Ps. 49:16-17

31. Though while he lives he congratulates himself—
And though men praise you when you do well for yourself—
He shall go to the generation of his fathers;
They will never see the light.
- Ps. 49:18-19

32. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding,
Is like the beasts that perish.
- Ps. 49:20

33. Wisdom Psalms
Experience
Character
Ethical Psalms