Objective

In this study, we’ll see that God gave us His wisdom for how to be right with God and live well with one another.

Key Verse

Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Introduction

We have traveled far in our journey through the Old Testament. We have seen God’s mighty power in creating the world and calling His people. We have witnessed His faithfulness through the stories of the patriarchs, the exodus from Egypt, and the conquest of the promised land. We have learned from the rise and fall of kings, and we have heard the urgent voices of the prophets calling God’s people back to righteousness.

Now we come to a different kind of literature in Scripture—the wisdom and poetry books. These five books stand apart from the historical narratives and prophetic messages we have studied so far. They speak to us in a more personal way, addressing the everyday questions and struggles that fill our hearts and minds. How should we respond when suffering comes into our lives? How can we worship God with genuine hearts? What does it mean to live wisely in a world full of foolish choices? Is there real meaning and purpose to our existence? What does true love look like?

The wisdom books don’t just give us information about God—they show us how to live with God. They teach us that knowing God is not merely an intellectual exercise, but a way of life that touches every part of our existence. These books help us understand that the same God who spoke the universe into being and delivered Israel from slavery also cares deeply about how we treat our neighbors, how we handle our money, how we respond to difficulty, and how we find joy and meaning in our daily lives.

The next five books are books of wisdom and poetry, and they are very different from one another. Job shows us how to trust God even when we cannot understand His ways. Psalms teaches us how to pour out our hearts to God in both celebration and sorrow. Proverbs gives us practical wisdom for making good choices every day. Ecclesiastes helps us see that life without God leads only to emptiness and despair. Song of Solomon illustrates the beauty and power of love as God designed it to be.

But though these books are different from each other, they all contain the wisdom we need to be obedient to God. They all point us to the same foundational truth—that we cannot live well without a right relationship with our Creator. In this study, we’ll focus on four of the main themes that run through all the wisdom and poetry books:

• The glory of God
• The emptiness of life without God
• The fear of the Lord
• The blessings of obedience

As we explore these themes together, we will discover that the wisdom books are not just ancient advice for living. They are God’s gracious gift to help us understand how to walk with Him in the midst of real life, with all its joys and sorrows, its questions and certainties, its struggles and victories.

The Glory of God

The wisdom books begin with a foundational truth that we must never forget—God alone is worthy of all our praise. He is worthy to be worshipped. He is a glorious God who stands far above anything we can imagine or understand. When we open our hearts to this reality, everything else in life begins to make sense.

The book of Psalms overflows with praise for God’s magnificent glory. David and the other psalm writers were not just using beautiful words—they were responding to the overwhelming reality of who God is. Listen to how they describe the glory of our God:

Psalm 8:1: Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 66:1-5: Shout for joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious. Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing the praises of your name.” Come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!

Psalm 96:3-5: Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

The wisdom books also teach us that God is beyond our understanding. This truth lies at the very heart of the book of Job. When Job questioned God about his suffering, God responded not by explaining His ways, but by revealing His infinite wisdom and power. God showed Job that there are depths to His character and purposes that no human mind can fully grasp.

Job 11:7-9: Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do? They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know? Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea.

Job 39:1-7: Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth? They crouch down and bring forth their young; their labor pains are ended. Their young thrive and grow strong in the wilds; they leave and do not return. Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout.

The psalmist echoes this same truth when he considers God’s infinite knowledge:

Psalm 139:6: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Proverbs 30:4: Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Whose hands have gathered up the wind? Who has wrapped up the waters in a cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is the name of his son? Surely you know!

Yet here is one of the most amazing truths in all of Scripture—even though God is so great and powerful, He is deeply interested in our lives. He has a purpose for each one of us. The God who controls the stars and the seas also knows our names and cares about our daily struggles.

Job 7:17-18: What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment?

Job 25:6: How much less a mortal, who is but a maggot—a human being, who is only a worm!

Psalm 8:3-4: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

(Notebook Moment: When you think about how vast and powerful God is, how does it make you feel to know that He cares about the details of your life? What does this teach you about His love?)

The Emptiness of Life Without God

The wisdom books also teach us a sobering but essential truth—life without God is completely empty. No matter how much success, pleasure, or achievement we might gain in this world, without God at the center of our lives, we will find only disappointment and despair.

In the book of Job, we read about worldly people who live as though there is no God. These people seem to prosper for a time, and Job wondered why wicked people often appear successful while the righteous suffer. But Job came to understand that the wicked only deceive themselves. They believe that God cannot see their evil actions and will not judge them, but they are terribly wrong.

Job 21:7-15: Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not on them. Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry. They send forth their children as a flock; their little ones dance about. They sing to the music of timbrel and lyre; they make merry to the sound of the pipe. They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace. Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? What would we gain by praying to him?’

Job 22:8-14: But the powerful possessed the land, and those who were honored lived in it. And you sent widows away empty-handed and broke the strength of the fatherless. That is why snares are all around you, why sudden peril terrifies you, why it is so dark you cannot see, and why a flood of water covers you. Is not God in the heights of heaven? And see how lofty are the highest stars! But you say, ‘What does God know? Does he judge through such darkness? Thick clouds veil him, so he does not see us as he goes about in the vaulted heavens.’

Job knew better than to be deceived by the temporary success of the wicked. He understood that life is empty without God, and he knew that God will certainly judge those who reject Him.

Job 21:17-20, 30: Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale? It is said, ‘God stores up the punishment of the wicked for their children.’ Let him repay the wicked, so that they themselves will experience it. Let their own eyes see their destruction; let them drink the cup of the wrath of the Almighty… that the wicked are spared from the day of calamity, that they are delivered from the day of wrath?

Job 22:15-17: Will you keep to the old path that the wicked have trod? They were carried off before their time, their foundations washed away by a flood. They said to God, ‘Leave us alone! What can the Almighty do to us?’

The book of Psalms also reminds us that it is foolish to live without God. Those who reject God may seem to flourish for a season, but their end is destruction.

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

Psalm 14:1-4: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one. Do not all evildoers know anything, who devour my people as though eating bread and never call on the Lord?

The book of Proverbs teaches us that the things of this world cannot satisfy us. Money, possessions, and worldly success are like mirages in the desert—they promise satisfaction but deliver only emptiness.

Proverbs 10:2: Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value, but righteousness delivers from death.

Jesus Himself confirmed this truth when He asked the most important question anyone can consider:

Mark 8:36: What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?

But perhaps no book in the Bible speaks more powerfully about the emptiness of life without God than Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the wisest and richest man of his time, tried every possible way to find meaning and satisfaction apart from God. He pursued knowledge, pleasure, work, and achievement. Yet after experiencing everything the world had to offer, he reached this sobering conclusion:

Ecclesiastes 2:11: Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

(Notebook Moment: Solomon had everything the world considers desirable—wisdom, wealth, power, and pleasure—yet he found it all meaningless without God. What does this teach us about where we should look for true satisfaction in life?)

The Fear of the Lord

The wisdom books do not leave us in despair about the emptiness of life without God. Instead, they give us the answer for this emptiness. God has created us to worship and serve Him, and when we live according to His design, we find the meaning and purpose our hearts long for.

Psalm 100: Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Solomon, after exploring every path that leads away from God, came to understand what matters most in life. His conclusion was simple but profound—the fear of the Lord is the most important thing.

Ecclesiastes 12:1: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them.”

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: 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. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Solomon also taught that the fear of God is the key to all true wisdom. This means that we cannot learn and grow in the ways that really matter until our hearts are humbled before God.

Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

But what exactly is the fear of the Lord? Some people misunderstand this phrase and think it means we should be terrified of God, like children cowering before an angry parent. That is not what Scripture teaches. The fear of the Lord is a response of humility and deep respect toward our Creator. It means recognizing His absolute authority over our lives and bowing before Him in worship and submission.

Psalm 33:8: Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.

Psalm 96:9: Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.

We learn to fear God properly as we learn more about who He is through His Word. We cannot truly understand God without studying the Bible, because that is where He has revealed Himself to us most clearly.

Deuteronomy 17:18-20: When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

The fear of the Lord leads us to have reverence and respect for God. It causes us to humble our hearts before Him and to take His Word seriously in every area of our lives.

Acts 9:31: Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Philippians 2:12-13: Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

The Blessings of Obedience

Finally, the wisdom books teach us that obedience to God produces a life of genuine blessing. This does not mean that faithful people never face difficulties or trials, but it does mean that those who follow God’s ways will experience His goodness in ways that make all their struggles worthwhile.

The Psalms are filled with descriptions of the blessings that come to those who walk in God’s ways:

Psalm 1:3: 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.

Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 34:8-10: Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Fear the Lord, you his holy people, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

Psalm 128: Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to him. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Yes, this will be the blessing for the man who fears the Lord.

The book of Proverbs has much to say about the blessings that come from obeying God. These blessings touch every area of life—our relationships, our work, our health, and our peace of mind.

Proverbs 3:1-2: My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.

Proverbs 4:5-13: Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown. Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble. Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life.

Proverbs 16:7: When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them.

Even the book of Job, which deals so honestly with suffering and hardship, ends with a beautiful picture of God’s blessings. After all that Job suffered—losing his possessions, his health, and his children—God blessed him abundantly. This restoration serves as a picture of how God will ultimately bless all those who remain faithful to Him.

Job 42:10-12: After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring. The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

This earthly restoration points us to an even greater truth—God promises eternal blessings to all who put their faith in Him through Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:18: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

2 Peter 1:10-11: Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

John 15:4-5: Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

(Notebook Moment: The wisdom books promise that obedience to God brings blessing, but they also show us that God’s people sometimes face great difficulties. How do these two truths work together? What kind of blessings matter most?)

Conclusion

What is the most important principle we can learn from the wisdom and poetry books? We must have a right knowledge of God if we are to live well in the world. All the practical advice, all the beautiful poetry, and all the profound insights in these books flow from this one essential truth—life only makes sense when we know God as He truly is and live according to His design.

This knowledge comes only from what God has revealed to us in His Word. This is why it is so important for us to understand and study the Bible carefully. We cannot know God through our own wisdom or imagination. We cannot figure out the meaning of life through human philosophy or experience alone. God must reveal Himself to us, and He has done so through Scripture.

Psalm 1:2: But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

The wisdom books teach us that true wisdom begins with recognizing who God is—the glorious Creator and Sustainer of all things. It continues as we acknowledge the emptiness of life without Him and humble ourselves before Him in reverent fear. And it finds its fulfillment as we experience the blessings that come from walking in obedience to His ways.

But all of this points us to something even greater. Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God. He is not just a teacher of wisdom—He is wisdom itself. In Christ, all the themes of the wisdom books find their perfect fulfillment. He shows us the glory of God in human form. He rescues us from the emptiness of life without God. He makes it possible for us to approach God without fear, while still maintaining proper reverence for His holiness. And He secures for us eternal blessings that far exceed anything we could earn through our own obedience.

John 15:3-5: You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Colossians 2:3: In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The wisdom books call us to a life-changing relationship with God through Jesus Christ. They invite us to discover the glory, meaning, reverence, and blessing that can only be found in Him. May we respond to this invitation with hearts that are humble, minds that are eager to learn, and lives that are committed to following wherever He leads.

Check Your Understanding

Take this 5-question quiz to check your understanding of this lesson.

Congratulations on completing this lesson! Click on the “Next Lesson” button below when you are ready to continue.