Wisdom Literature Points To Jesus

Introduction

Good evening. It is good to see you in the audience this evening. It is a privilege to have this opportunity to speak with you all. It was a privilege to sing those songs that Brother Duke led us in to focus on the Psalms and, as Ken said, to show how Scripture points to Jesus. Lord willing, tonight, what we want to do is we want to look at a couple of wisdom psalms. We’re going to sort of lay the foundation more this evening and talk, Lord willing, beginning tomorrow, more about how all these things point to Jesus. I often quote a statement.

And he said, Many of you in your Bibles have a list of prophecies of Jesus in the period between the close of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament. It has some of your Bibles, and my Bible has one too. It has a list of prophecies made and prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. But he said, Let me tell you something. Any list of prophecies fulfilled in Jesus is too short if it doesn’t include the whole Old Testament. It will take you a lifetime to fully appreciate that statement.

But as I study the Old Testament and look at it and examine it, I see him everywhere. All the scriptures point to Jesus. If that is not evident in what we say this evening, and I recognize it may not be. Please come back tomorrow as we discuss some of these things more fully. Wisdom literature. What do you think of when you think of wisdom literature? Well, first of all, what is wisdom? What is wisdom? We talk about wisdom. Oh. Okay. Let me go back.

Okay. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Can I also ask you to do something else, Greg, while you’re up here? I am not going to burn up. Could you please turn his fan off? His fan is blowing right. I apologize for this. It’s blowing on me so strong. It is um. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Okay. Very good. Okay. Take two.

1. What Is Wisdom?

What is wisdom? What is wisdom? How is this word used in the Bible? What I would say is that this word is used in some interesting places. It’s used in some interesting places. In Exodus chapter 28, the Bible is talking about making the priestly garments for Aaron and his sons. It says, You shall speak to all the skillful persons in whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom. They are wise in the sense that they are skilled in making these priestly garments. The same thing when you get to Exodus 31. In Exodus 31, beginning with verse 3, we are talking about a man by the name of Belzalel. In verse 6, we are talking about a man by the name of Oholiah. But in these verses, they are said to be skilled men, and they are going to make all the things that are associated with the tabernacle.

But their wisdom is a practical skill in being able to make these things and do these things well. You can trace those references throughout Exodus. You’ll find most of them are about those two men, Belzalel and Oholiah. If you look at Psalm 107, just a moment. Psalm 107 is a beautiful psalm. It is a thanksgiving psalm. And in Psalm 107, what happens is there are crises described. People called out to God in the midst of their crisis. God delivered them from their crisis, and then they gave thanks to God. It is worthy of your attention. But we want to call attention to one little detail in Psalm 107. In Psalm 107 and verse 27, they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at wits end.

Now this is talking about sailors. And the sailors found themselves caught in a horrible storm. Notice in verse 25, he spoke, God spoke, and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. So the storm lifts up the ship and brings down the ship. And all aboard the ship in verse 27 reeled like drunken men. They were at wits in. And that word wits is our word, our Hebrew word for wisdom. They have done what is the limit of human skill and human ability. They have done everything they possibly can, and there is no hope for deliverance. And they cry out to God and they call upon him to rescue them. I don’t know if I explained that well enough. But this is what I’m stressing.

Sometimes the word wisdom is used in ways I wouldn’t expect it to be used. And it is used with people having skill in a particular area of life. And this, in light of that, this is how I have defined what we have called wisdom. That wisdom is the ability to skillfully navigate life. In life, there are all kinds of minefields. There are all kinds of problems that we face. And wisdom is the ability to skillfully navigate through those minefields. There are proverbs, for example, that seem at first glance to have nothing to do with God. The Bible says, for example, in Proverbs chapter 27 in verse 14, the one who sings, and I’m paraphrasing the idea, the one who sings or greets his friend loudly in the morning is going to be looked upon, is not going to be appreciated.

And I didn’t do a good job with that paraphrase. Proverbs 27 14, if you want to look it up. But the point is that may not seem like it has anything to do with God at first, but it has much to do with skillfully navigating through life’s problems. And if you’re going to skillfully navigate through life’s problems, it’s going to begin with a proper attitude toward God. To fear God is the basis of wisdom. As Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7 says, it is the beginning of wisdom. Now, understand that about 40% of the Old Testament is written poetically. The books that we describe as Old Testament poetry sometimes expand far beyond just these books. And other books could be characterized as wisdom type of literature, but particularly, I think in this, for the purposes of these lessons, you were thinking of wisdom literature as Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Psalms, Song of Solomon.

These are these greatly different kinds of literature. But all of them ultimately point to Jesus. Now let me say just a little bit about the Psalms. The Psalms have a great amount of different types of literature. There are many different varieties of Psalms. The most common, probably type of variety of Psalm, is a Psalm where an individual pours out his complaint to God. He pours out his heart to God. Psalm 3 begins these Psalms of individual lament, and they are very strong, particularly in the early parts of the book. There are many different varieties of Psalms, but Psalms that could be characterized as wisdom psalms. And no two people are going to classify all the psalms in the same way. But all of the Psalms I have behind me could be listed as wisdom psalms.

Some would say 119 and 119 better would fit into a category known as Torah Psalms or Psalms about the law. And indeed, they are about the law of God, but it does seem like they have much to do with wisdom. And they have some of the same characteristics that we’re about to describe. A couple of characteristics of these wisdom psalms, of this variety of literature, is it contrasts the righteous with the wicked, and it emphasizes the problem of suffering. It contrasts the righteous with the wicked and emphasizes the problem of suffering. Now, this is our plan tonight. Lord willing, we’re going to look at Psalm 37, make some observations about it, and also Psalm 73, maybe looking at it a little bit more thoroughly. But what we want to do is we want to get a feel for this kind of literature.

2. The Wicked Cut Off, the Righteous Inherit the Land

And what we want to do tomorrow in the class is to focus some more on how these things point to Jesus and to stress those things more extensively Sunday as well. But one of the things we said just a moment ago, and I invite you to open your Bible to Psalm 37 if it is not already there. Psalm 37. We said that wisdom literature and wisdom psalms often make a stark contrast between the wicked and the righteous. For example, here are at least 14 verses from Psalm 37, which mention the wicked specifically. So the wicked are mentioned repeatedly in Psalm 37. And there is a reward that is described for the wicked several times in this text. And that is that the wicked will be cut off.

In verse 9, evildoers will be cut off. In verse 22, for those blessed by him will inherit the land, and those cursed by him will be cut off. In all that phrase, to be cut off is used some five times in Psalm 37. Five times the wicked or evildoers are said to be cut off. Now the word righteous is not found as frequently as the word wicked. The word righteous is used about nine times, but notice that also five times we are told that the righteous will inherit the land. In Psalm 37, verse 9. We already read this a moment ago. Evildoers will be cut off. Those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. In verse 11, the humble will inherit the land.

In verse 22, those blessed by him will inherit the land. Verse 29, the righteous will inherit the land. And in verse 34, we see the same thing. Wait for the Lord and keep his way.

But the wicked will be cut off. You will see it.

A stark contrast between the destinies of the wicked and the righteous. While the wicked will be cut off, the righteous will inherit the land.

3. Does This Psalm Promise Too Much?

Is that always your experience? The wicked are cut off, and the righteous inherit the land. The righteous are blessed, and the wicked are cut off. Is that always your experience? I want you to look with me at these verses, and I want to ask a question. Does this Psalm promise too much? Does it paint too rosy of a picture of life? Does it tell us that if you serve God, you’re not going to have problems, you’re not going to have troubles, but if you don’t serve God, your life will be filled with them. Is that what these passages say? Some would say that some of the Proverbs and passages like Psalm 37, they promise too much. For example, in verse 10, yet a little while and the wicked will be no more, and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be there.

Now again, is that always your experience? That you see the wicked, you see the wicked prospering, but you turn back around and he’s gone, he’s disappeared. Does this psalm promise too much? In verse 19, the text says of the blameless, verse 19, they will not be ashamed in the time of evil, and in the days of famine they will have an abundance. In verses 25 and 26, I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread all day long. He is gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing. I had been young, now I’m old. I’ve never seen this.

If things aren’t going well for me, I should question my relationship with God. Well, let’s look at the whole psalm. This psalm also indicates the righteous suffering. In verse 12, it indicates the wicked plotting against the righteous. In verse 14, the wicked draw their sword and bend their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy. In verse 16, better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. Doesn’t that seem to imply that sometimes in life our choice is having a little and doing the right thing? Versus having an abundance and doing the wrong thing.

Better is a little the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. So yes, this psalm tells us the righteous will suffer. And this psalm tells us that sometimes the wicked will prosper. That life isn’t always easy. The first verse, do not fret because of evildoers or be envious toward wrongdoers. Why would we be tempted to be envious of wrongdoers? We would be tempted to be envious of wrongdoers because everything goes well for them, because they are free from the problems that plague the rest of people. That is why it’s sometimes easy to be envious of them. This psalm assumes the righteous will suffer and the wicked will prosper. In verse 9, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.

The psalm doesn’t tell us if we serve God, everything will be easy. And it doesn’t show us that in every case the wicked will always be cut off immediately.

To try to encourage me.

Of the fact that we live in a world which seems to be turned upside down morally, that the path to blessing is pursuing God and pursuing righteousness, and the path to disaster is disobedience to God. This psalm is trying to convince us that in spite of how things look, that is where things are headed. Now, I want to make a point, because I think this is important in this kind of literature to understand this kind of literature to make. Look at Psalm 37, 25. I have been young, and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread. You remember the book of Job. It was one of those books that we mentioned earlier as wisdom literature. You remember the book of Job and how Job is righteous and blameless and walks in the ways of God.

And you remember Job loses all of his wealth, he loses his family, he loses his health. His friends come and his friends say, Job, this must be happening to you because of your sin. And they quote some statements that actually appear in the book of Proverbs. For example, Bildad in Job 18:5 says, the lamp of the wicked is cut off. Well, that’s a statement from Proverbs 13, verse 9. From Proverbs 20, verse 20. The Bible says the lamp of the wicked is cut off. Bildad quotes it and applies it to Job. What is wrong with his use of this passage of Scripture? What is wrong with his use of that text? Could you picture Job’s friends telling Job, obviously, Job, you sinned? Because I have been young, and now I’m old, and I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread.

I could picture this as being the type of passage that Job’s friends would quote, and Job’s friends would say, Job, this shows that you’re wicked. But what is the problem with what the friends are doing? There are several problems with what the friends are doing. But let me ask you a question contextually. I know I haven’t explained Psalm 37 as well as I should have, but as you read Psalm 37, and I encourage you to read it further this evening, this weekend, read it thoroughly. I want to ask you this question. When that statement is found, I have been young, and now I am old, and I’ve not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread. Is that verse written to tell us how to distinguish the righteous from the wicked?

Is that the purpose of that passage? Is the purpose of this passage to lead us when we pass by a homeless person to say, obviously, he’s a wicked person because of this passage. That’s not the purpose of this passage, is it? The purpose of this passage is to encourage us to pursue righteousness. Because in spite of the fact that the wicked may prosper, and in spite of the fact the righteous may suffer, still the path to blessing is righteousness. And the path to destruction, sin is the path to destruction. This passage is not written to tell us who is righteous and who is wicked. The passage is written to tell us pursue righteousness. Because that will be the way to blessing. Now let me invite you to turn with me to Psalm 73.

4. My Feet Came Close to Stumbling

Psalm 73.

But right now, let’s focus on our text. Psalm 73 deals with this problem of the righteous versus the wicked. In teaching the Psalms and having students write papers on the book of Psalms, I remember there have been a couple of years in which half the class wrote about Psalm 73. This Psalm seemed to really capture their attention. And this Pong may be what you need at this moment. The writer begins by saying, Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart, but as for me, my feet came close to stumbling, my steps had almost slipped. What he says in verse 2 is I almost lost my faith. And he almost lost his faith. Why? Well, he goes on to explain in verse 3.

I was envious of the arrogant as I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He sees the wicked prospering, and it almost causes him to lose his faith. He says in verse 4, there are no pains in their death. Their body is fat. They are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. They don’t have the problems that everyone else has. Now I’m reading from the New American Standard Bible, a 1995 update. Look at verse 5 again. The text says they are not in trouble as other men, nor are they plagued like mankind. Well, the New American Standard has the word plagued there in verse 5. That word is also used in verse 14, and it is translated stricken. For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning.

The psalmist says, I have been plagued. He’s tried to do the right thing, and he’s been plagued, he’s been stricken in verse 14, but he looks at the wicked and he sees they are not plagued, and they are not stricken. He has all these problems when he’s tried to do right, and he looks out at wicked people, and they’re prospering and living a carefree life. And it almost causes him to lose his faith. These people who are prospering are living in defiance of God and mistreating their fellow man. Look at the text in verse 6. Pride is their necklace and the garment of violence covers them. They are so into pride and violence, it is the very clothing they wear. Pride is their necklace, the garment of violence covers them.

Their eye bulges from fatness, the imagination of their heart runs riot, they mock and wickedly speak of oppression. They speak from on high. They have set their mouths against the heavens and their tongue parades to the earth. To set your mouth against the heavens is to set your mouth against God. These prospering people, these people whose lives are filled with violence and pride, are mocking God and defying God and speaking against their fellow man. In verse 10, therefore, his people return to this place, and waters of abundance are drunk by them. They say, How does God know? And is there knowledge with the Most High? They mock God and their accountability to God. In verse 12, behold, these are the wicked and always at ease. They have increased in wealth.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and washed my hands in innocence. For I have been stricken all day long and chastened every morning. In vain I’ve kept my heart pure. I tried to keep my heart pure. But why? For what purpose? It has resulted in nothing for me but problems and difficulties while people defy God and their lives are easy. Have you ever felt that way? Have you ever looked at the problems in your life? And looked around at people you work with, people you know in your neighborhood that live in reckless disregard of God, and everything they touch turns into gold. But all your life is filled with troubles and filled with afflictions. Maybe too, you’ve almost lost your faith because of the prosperity of the wicked.

5. Until I Came Into the Sanctuary of God

He’s very open, admitting what he’s wrestling with, what he’s troubled with, and what almost undermined his faith. But I find it interesting that his outlook changes. I find not only it interesting his outlook changes, but I find it interesting where his outlook changes. In verse 15, he said, If I had said I will speak thus, behold, I would have betrayed the generation of your children. When I pondered to understand this, it was troublesome in my sight. This gives him real trouble. By the way, that word troublesome, it’s the same word translated trouble in verse 5. The wicked doesn’t have trouble.

Until I came into the sanctuary of God, and then I perceived therein. Let me tell you something. If you come here tonight with questions, with problems, maybe even the very kinds of problems we’re describing right now. Don’t quit coming to services. Don’t quit opening your Bible. Don’t quit looking to God. He is in the sanctuary of God when things begin to make sense and the pieces began to fall together until I came into the sanctuary of God, and then I perceived therein. Surely you set them in slippery places. You cast them down to destruction. How they are destroyed in a moment. They are utterly swept away by sudden terrors. Like a dream when one awakes. Oh Lord would arouse you will despise their form. In verse 19, how they are destroyed in a moment.

They’re going to be destroyed suddenly. And they’re going to be destroyed completely in verse 19. They are completely swept away by terrorist. Suddenly, completely they’re going to be swept away. He has been envious of the wicked, but he does not understand until he comes into God’s house the precarious position of the wicked. Do you understand the precarious position of the wicked? The wicked who may be prospering. The wicked who may seem to live a carefree life. Do you understand how precarious their position? In the days of early colonial America, Puritan preacher, Jonathan Edwards, preached a sermon called Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God. In that he uses this illustration. He talks about a fire that is burning. And see a spider hang precariously on a spider’s web above the fire.

And he thinks to himself that if that string breaks, the spider will suddenly be cast into the fire. If you are tempted to be envious of the wicked, because they are prospering and things are going well, consider that their position before God in eternity is just that precarious.

6. The Greatest of All Blessings Is God Himself

In verse 21, when my heart was embittered and I was pierced within, I was senseless and ignorant.

Nevertheless, I am continually with you. You have taken hold of my right hand, with your counsel you will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you will perish. You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good. I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all of your works. What the psalmist is saying here is when he was envious of the wicked, he was oblivious to the fact that he has the greatest of all blessings.

The greatest of all blessings is God himself in verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you? And besides you, I desire nothing on earth. What more is there that you could have? What greater blessing is there than God Himself? My heart, my flesh, and my heart may fail, but God is the string of my heart. Let me ask you to look at verse 24. With your counsel you will guide me, and afterward receive me to glory. Afterward. Do you see that word afterward? It is the same word in the original language that’s used in verse 17. Until I came into the sanctuary of God, and then I perceived therein. It’s the same word translated in. Verse 17 talks about the end of the wicked. Verse 24 talks about the end of the righteous.

Verse 17 talks about the afterworth of the wicked. Verse 24, the afterward of the righteous. Not only do we have the greatest of all blessings here. That is a blessing that we will have eternally. Are you discouraged? Are you broken? Are you suffering? Are you experiencing difficulties? I consider the sufferings of this present time not worthy to be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us. Romans 8 and verse 18. Paul said, our momentary light affliction. You may have suffered more than me, but you haven’t suffered more than Paul. And Paul said, our momentary light affliction is working for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. We suffer now for a little while in 1 Peter 1, 6 and 7, to receive eternal glory.

Conclusion

1 Peter 5 and verse 10. Why would we be envious of the wicked? They are the ones who should be envious of us. Let us pray. O Lord, we are thankful that in your word you have given us these passages that show us your people seeking to make sense of the world, wrestling with problems that we wrestle with, and giving us good reasons for our faith. We thank you. And we thank you for how they all point to Jesus. Who brings us ultimate salvation and ultimate deliverance. To you be all the glory and the praise. Help us to see you more clearly through this study, these studies this weekend. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Thank you for your attention. I told you I was going to make a confession at the end.

You know what my confession is. By the end of the sermon, I was really getting hot up there, hot up here after that fan was turned off. I did need it after all. Oh. But I didn’t know how to turn it back on. I’m going to need a crash course in that after it’s over. I realize that trying to talk about wisdom literature in a couple of lessons.

Nothing we could begin to do could really touch upon the problem thoroughly. Touch upon the subject thoroughly. I hope, though, we will see this better. And tomorrow, particularly in classes, the class, we want to point to how these things find fulfillment in Christ. Find fulfillment in him.

That Jesus died and rose again for you. You know that. And you’re willing to turn from your sins in repentance and confess faith in him. If you’re willing to do that, the brethren here would be glad to help you be baptized into Jesus Christ. If I’ve explained that too quickly, feel free to ask about it afterwards. Because we want you to understand what you need to do to be right with God. The Lord loves you. And the Lord wants to save you. The Lord has shown his people, even expressing their doubts, because he wants you to understand that people wrestle in this world and that there are answers for the questions we ask. We hope we pointed you to some this evening. If we can help you to the ultimate answer in Jesus, we invite you to come as we stand and sing.