Inline PHP and SQL Queries

I currently have a site that is written in PHP/HTML that I am working on converting to use WordPress. On my main page I have a table that’s built dynamically from a database query. I’m trying to do the same thing within WordPress and it doesn’t seem to be working. I’ve got the Inline PHP module installed and I’m wrapping my php tags with <exec> </exec> but my table is not getting built??? All my static content shows up but nothing from the query.

Is there a better way to build these queries in WordPress (I’m a new WordPress user) then using the Inline PHP? Will my PHP SQL queries work with the Inline PHP plug-in?