The Art of Preaching Old Testament Poetry

by Steven D. Mathewson

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.

256 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Jakob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book I’ve read this semester. Super helpful for thinking about preaching from poetic books, particularly the wisdom books. My only wish was that Mathewson would have given more insight to readers on how to discover the “big idea” of the texts.