Running head: PSALMS VS.

PROVERBS

Psalms vs. Proverbs: A Comparative Look

Mrs. Toni L. Bush
 
Psalms vs. Proverbs: A Comparative Look
If you were to conduct a survey asking people to list their favorite books
in the Bible, you would get a wide range of answers. Amongst the top five would
probably be Psalms and Proverbs. Even those people with the slightest biblical
knowledge or religious preference would have some familiarity with these two
books. I can remember by the age of five, I knew the entire 23rd Psalm. My
Grandmother made sure that I recited it every morning and every night. I did not
question it nor at that time did I know how that one chapter would influence my
life. As I got older and understood more in church, I questioned why lessons
typically came from the same books when there were so many to choose from. Often
times I would hear turn to the book of Psalms or Proverbs, and other books like
Mathew and John. My mother stated, that Psalms instruct us on how to interact and
deal with God, while Proverbs gives instructions on dealing with Man. Although
these two books are often referenced and linked to each other, they have distinct
similarities and differences.
The Book of Psalms is a collection of prayers, poems, and hymns that focus
the worshiper's thoughts on God in praise and adoration. Parts of this book were
used as a hymnal in the worship services of ancient Israel. The Book of Psalms is
the longest book in the Bible, with 150 individual psalms. It is also one of the
most diverse, since the psalms deal with such subjects as God and His creation,
war, worship, wisdom, sin and evil, judgment, justice, and the coming of the
Messiah. Within Psalms you will find cries for vindication, teaching for new
generations, history, and the list goes on. The purpose of the book of Psalms was
to express the divine word spoken in rather than to man, to reveal the character
of God through the praise, complaint and exhortation of God’s people so that the
reader may be willing to submit himself to the Lord, In addition Psalms enables
the reader to come into contact with God through the expression of the common,
subjective daily experiences of others and to encourage one’s confidence in God’s
faithfulness by the words of others when one’s own life experiences do not seem to
support that faith. Psalms also affirms the certainty of God’s future rule on
earth through the line of David wherein the righteous will be blessed and the
wicked will be judged, to provide a worship hymnal and a devotional guide for the
Temple-centered Jewish faith, and to encourage believers to enjoy God and his
benefits. (Calvin, 37)
This book is mostly written by David, but has other authors, like Ethan, the sons
of Korah, Asaph, and several more. Moses even wrote one. Psalm 90 is a prayer
assigned to Moses. The brief descriptions that introduce the psalms have David
listed as author in 73 instances. David's personality and identity are clearly
stamped on many of these psalms. While it is clear that David wrote many of the
individual psalms, he is definitely not the author of the entire collection. Two
of the psalms (72) and (127) are attributed to Solomon, David's son and successor.
Another group of 12 psalms (50) and (73—83) is ascribed to the family of Asaph.
The sons of Korah wrote 11 psalms (42, 44-49, 84-85, and 87-88). Psalm 88 is
attributed to Heman, while (89) is assigned to Ethan the Ezrahite. With the
exception of Solomon and Moses, all these additional authors were priests or
Levites who were responsible for providing music for sanctuary worship during
David's reign. Fifty of the psalms designate no specific person as author.
Psalms are closer to poetry than it is wisdom. Proverbs is more wisdom than it is
poetry. The book of Proverbs is that it is a book of wise sayings. The author of
Proverbs is Solomon who was the son of David. First Kings 4:29-34 states: "And God
gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even
as the sand that is on the sea shore. And Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of
all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.(NIV) In the
Book of Proverbs, Solomon reveals the mind of God in matters high and lofty and in
common, ordinary, everyday situations, too. It appears that no topic escaped King
Solomon's attention. Matters pertaining to personal conduct, sexual relations,
business, wealth, charity, ambition, discipline, debt, child-rearing, character,
alcohol, politics, revenge, and godliness are among the many topics covered in
this rich collection of wise sayings. The book of Proverbs is wisdom literature
which is a collection of comparisons based on observation and reflection that
seeks to instruct people in right behavior. (Hill, Walton) The purpose of
Proverbs was to enable the readers to learn and apply the fear of the Lord to
their lives to provide skill for successful living from the two perimeters of
natural order and God’s word to know wisdom and instruction, (1:2) to receive
teaching in wise dealing, righteousness, justice and equity, (1:3) to help the
simple gain prudence and the youth gain knowledge and discretion, (1:4) to
increase learning and to acquire skill in understanding, (1:5) to understand
proverbs, parables, wise sayings, and riddles, (1:6) and to learn the fear of the
Lord.(1:7) The book of Proverbs teaches us how to conduct ourselves in a way that
is pleasing to God, it teaches us how to be just and dutiful, it draws comparisons
between the righteous and sinner, wise and foolish, and has rewards as well as
punishments.
If Proverbs and Psalms qualify as Old Testament poetical books, they should bear
some similarities; and they do. David and Solomon depended on parallelism for
poetic expression, as did the other Old Testament poets. According to Webster
dictionary, Parallelism is defined as a pattern of similarities in two or more
clauses. Similar to Proverbs, the Psalms particularly speak to the Bible-reader
because the sentiments of God fearing men are expressed more than in other books
of the Scriptures, be it in prayer, in confession, in praises or in grief. In many
of these situations the Bible reader finds himself and therefore is especially
attracted and spoken to by the Psalms.
Differences between Psalms and Proverbs include Psalms being a collection of songs
and praises and Proverbs is concerned with wisdom. However, the purpose is
prophetic, which contrasts with The Book of Proverbs, which is more concerned with
wisdom for good fearing men. Instead of being emotional in nature, in the Book of
Proverbs, maxims (or aphorisms) played an important part, as it did in antiquity
(Greeks, etc.). The Book of Proverbs of Solomon in the Holy Scriptures considers
the fear of Jehovah as aim, which is the beginning of wisdom. The book of Proverbs
shows what the god-fearing man in this world shall seek and what he shall avoid.
The book also teaches that man irrespective of his spiritual blessings under the
government of God will reap what he has sowed. It contains the advice of divine
wisdom for daily life of a god-fearing man in all his difficulties, trials,
dangers and joys of his way over this earth.”
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In conclusion, Bible scholars list Proverbs with the Poetical Books as well as
with the Wisdom Literature of the Old Testament. Along with the Psalms,
Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon, Proverbs exhibits the characteristics of
Hebrew poetry. The book of Psalms contains a collection of poems, many of which
are suitable for singing in worship. We can think of the Psalms as God’s hymn
book. In contrast, the book of Proverbs instructs us how to behave and how to get
along with other people. Proverbs teaches humility, honesty, trustworthiness,
truthfulness, patience, purity, and many other virtues. We can think of Proverbs
as God’s handbook for good character and conduct.

 
References
Calvin, John. Commentary on the Book of Psalms.
[Link] p. xxxvii.
Gan, Windell. [Link] Walking Thru the
Bible.
Hill, Andrew E. and Walton, John H. A Survey of the Old Testament.
[Link] 286
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