The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry

Steven D. Mathewson

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN:
  9781493447725
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Studies

Preachers often struggle with preaching Old Testament poetry. They are uncertain how to preach the highly emotive poems in Psalms, the one-liners in Proverbs, the tedious conversations in Job, the esoteric observations about life in Ecclesiastes, and the confusing love poems in the Song of Songs.

Here leading pastor theologian Steven Mathewson instructs and inspires preachers to preach some of the most challenging--and some of the richest--material in the Old Testament. This companion to his successful The Art of Preaching Old Testament Narrative guides readers through preaching the oft-neglected Old Testament poetic books. Mathewson introduces foundational issues and offers basic methodology and preaching strategies that are faithful to the text and sensitive to its listeners. Highlighting Mathewson's skill at bringing the riches of the Old Testament to bear on the life of the church, this book makes scholarship on the poetic books accessible for pastors and pastors-in-training. It also includes sample sermons.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• 1. Preparing to Preach Old Testament Poetry
• 2. Preaching Psalms
• 3. Preaching Proverbs
• 4. Preaching Job
• 5. Preaching Ecclesiastes
• 6. Preaching Song of Songs
• 7. A Final Word
• Appendix: A: Sample Sermon on Psalm 87
• Appendix: B: Sample Sermon on Psalm 137
• Appendix: C: Sample Sermon on Proverbs 31:1–9
• Appendix: D: Sample Sermon on Job 28:1–28
• Appendix: E: Sample Sermon on Ecclesiastes 11:7–12:14
• Appendix: F: Sample Sermon on Song of Songs
• Appendix: G: A Categorization of the Psalms
• Bibliography
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover