Duane A. Garrett, “Preaching from the Psalms and Proverbs,” in Preaching the Old Testament, ed. Scott M. Gibson (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006), 113, writes:
“Every seminary student has some familiarity with form criticism and the psalms. Some psalms are described as ‘hymns’ (community songs of praise), others as ‘communal laments’ (community prayers for help), and others as ‘individual songs of thanksgiving’ (sung by one person rather than a whole community), or ‘individual laments,’ ‘royal songs,’ ‘Torah psalms,’ and so forth. It is important to know these categories insofar as they force us to ask ourselves, ‘Was this psalm for one person or a whole congregation?’ ‘Is this psalm a prayer to God, or is it addressed to the reader?’ ‘Is this reflecting a celebration or a calamity?’ Although form criticism has its value, and in some instances is extremely helpful, on the whole I am not persuaded that it is of great use to the preacher. It is a tool, but no more.”
I tend to think that Garrett is right. What do you think? If you disagree, I would be interested to hear how you incorporate this material into your preaching.
It is not likely that many in America will not let this day pass without at least a minimal thought given to the events on this day eight years ago. For many, the thoughts and feelings will seem more like eight seconds fresh rather than eight years old. There will be questions asked and answered concerning “Where were you . . . .” Americans will observe, reflect, and respond in a variety of ways this day. For me, I offer the following three reflections.
1. While every act like 9/11 is a tragedy and travesty, I am thankful that there are not more 9/11’s given our fallen state and the depravity of which we are all capable of. Surely, this is an evidence of God’s common grace.
2. While I truly wish that the perpetrators of this heinous crime could and would be brought to justice, I suspect that even if this were to occur it would only bring a measure of comfort and closure. True comfort and closure does not come from making things right (thought that surely helps) but by knowing the Righteous One by faith. Do you know Him today?
3. While this day is an important day, a day worth remembering, it is not the most important day. The most important day is when the King of Kings and Lord of Lords returns to establish his dominion, a time in which there will be no more 9/11’s, no more tears, and no more looking in the mirror dimly as faith gives way to sight. Hallelujah!
Surely more could be said, and surely more will be said, but these are my thoughts on this ninth day of September 2009.
Some readers might be interested to know that Christian Book Distributors is offering the following items as part of its Fabulous Friday Specials (Friday only sale).
The 12 volume Expositor’s Bible Commentary (the original, not revised series) for $99 (retail $456.88)
Studies on the Sermon on the Mount by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones for $5.99 (retail $30)
Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation edited by Moises Silva for $11.99 (retail $37.99)
You can access the sale with these and other books here.
I am about to start teaching a class on Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon. For Proverbs I plan to do an exposition of chapters 1-9. But, the rest of Proverbs will be studied topically. Because of time I will only be able to cover four to five topics. Therefore, I want to give my adult students a process to develop their own topical studies. I have created a handout which I have included below. Feel free to give your thoughts or suggestions by clicking on comments below.
How to Do Your Own Topical Study
1.Read Proverbs and become familiar with the different kinds of topics that seem to reoccur.
2.Select a topic and try to determine what key words might fall under that topic. For example, proverbs related to the family might use words like father, mother, son, child, discipline, training, etc.
3.Try and find every proverb related to the topic. This can be done by personally going through each proverb in Proverbs. This is the best way. But if you don’t have the time to do this then you can use certain commentaries which have topical arrangements or indexes (see below) or you can use a topical Bible like Naves (good), or a concordance like Strong’s or Young’s to look up key words (acceptable but might be time consuming).
4.Once you identify all the proverbs related to the topic, try to determine the meaning of the proverb and how it contributes to your topic.
5.Once you have worked through all the proverbs related to the topic, try and identify basic categories. For example, possible categories for proverbs related to speech could be encouraging speech, edifying speech, gossip, honesty, lying, criticism, etc.
6.Once you have identified your categories then try and identify an overall message that could be supported by the individual proverbs in that category.
7.Meditate and apply what you have learned to your life.
8.Start the process over with another topic.
Some Books on Proverbs Arranged Topically or with Topical Indexes
House, H. Wayne and Kenneth M. Durham. Living Wisely in a Foolish World: A Contemporary Look at the Wisdom of Proverbs. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1992.
Hubbard, David. Proverbs. Mastering the Old Testament, ed. Lloyd J. Ogilvie, vol. 15A. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1989.
Kidner, Derek. Proverbs: An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale Old Testament Commentary, ed. D. J. Wiseman. Downers Grove, IL: Inter Varsity Press, 1964.
Longman, Tremper, III. Proverbs. Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, ed. Tremper Longman III. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2006.
Sailler, Ronald M., and David Wyrtzen. The Practice of Wisdom: A Topical Guide to Proverbs. Chicago: Moody, 1992.
Woodcock, Eldon. Proverbs a Topical Study. Bible Study Commentary. Grand Rapids: Lamplighter Books, 1988.
Commenting on Matthew 5:13–16, Dwight Pentecost, Design for Living: Lessons on Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 84, states,
“You are salt to make a man thirst for Jesus Christ. You are light to bring a man to Christ. If your pattern of life is so like the pattern of life of the unsaved man that he cannot see any difference between himself and you, you will never create a thirst in him for what you have. Salt does not serve its function by being just like the food on which it is placed. Salt has to be different to serve its purpose. Until there is a transformation in your daily conduct, you will never be salt. Apart from the word of God you can never be light. God calls us from a world from which we were saved to a new kind of life so we might be salt. He delivered the Word to us so that we might be light to men who are lost.”