Review: The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms

The Psalms are a book with which I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of years, not so much studying as reading, memorizing, and meditating. It is full of truth about God and his care for His people. Recently, Zondervan provided me with a free copy of The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms written by Brian Webster and David Beach, with a request that I give it a read and review. I was pleased to be able to go through it, hoping that it would assist me in my endeavor to worship God as the writers of the Psalms do.

The book is divided into three parts: an introduction where the authors provide brief but valuable information on the types of psalms; a series of charts that describe terms used for God, a list of the psalms according to types, and a couple of others that may or may not be useful to the casual reader; and finally a one page introduction to each of the psalms, which is why someone would want to own the book. In this final part, each psalm is given one page to describe with the same format: theme, type, author, background, structure, and special notes that may be of interest. At the end of the page a short reflection is given for personal thought and meditation. There is also a picture on each page which supposedly connects with the theme of the psalm in some way.

When I received the book, I immediately went to a few of the psalms which I have memorized (1, 23, 103, 121) to see how they were treated, hoping to gain some insights that would benefit my times of recitation and meditation. While I found the provided information to be of interest, it did not seem to offer anything that I could not have found quickly in other resources, and in some cases, just through my own time of thought and study with very little or no help at all. For example, in Psalm 1, the structure is not too difficult to see from simple observation, with three different sections, each providing a contrast between the unrighteous and righteous. In Psalm 103, a longer psalm, the structure is not as easy to see without careful thought, but the comments on structure by the authors did not really help me in my understanding or appreciation of the great truths brought out. In fact, in my own meditation, I was struck with the repetition of the thought about those who “fear the Lord”, but there was no mention of that concept. My own reflection on this Psalm would certainly include a reference to that concept.

The book itself is attractive. It strikes me as a coffee table book in design, with glossy pages and photographs. It is something that someone might pick up in a few spare minutes of time, or just prior to reading through a specific psalm. In that case I would prefer to see it in hardback form for repeated use. As a paperback, the cover flips up after a couple of uses and is therefore not that attractive sitting on the table any longer.

The length of the book (as well as its purpose, I suppose) does not suggest that it is intended for serious study. Those who want something to use for a deep exploration of each psalm can find other resources rather easily. For teachers, pastors, and serious students, I would recommend that you look elsewhere. For those who want to add to their devotional reading of the Psalms, the book provides some good thoughts to prepare you for the message of each psalm. The information in parts 1 and 2 are also beneficial for those who want a greater understanding of the Psalms as a whole. If you understand what you are getting, it’s a good book to include in your library.

Review: Keep Your Greek

Have you ever studied the Greek language? There is so much you can learn from the Bible if you know how to use the Greek. Many people went through Bible College and seminary, studied Greek, but then did not use it much once they were finished. So they end up losing the skill. What a shame. Well, a Greek teacher, Con Campbell, has written an excellent book called "Keep Your Greek" to help such students. Published by Zondervan, and subtitled "Strategies for Busy People", it does what exactly what it says it will do. It provides many helpful ideas on how to keep your Greek skills sharp. He started these ideas from writing a blog a couple of years ago and has now taken these ideas and expanded them into a very readable book.

Campbell states that the first four chapters are the most important, starting with reading some Greek every day (not a lot, just make sure it is done). Interestingly, the second chapter tells you to burn your interlinear Bible. It becomes a crutch and does not do anything to help you maintain Greek skills. The third suggestion involves being careful how you use Bible study software for the same reason. He admits there is plenty of value (especially saving time), but students will become dependent on it. I find it odd that these are two of the more important suggestions. The final important "must do" idea is keeping up with vocabulary. Make it your friend, he says. And he provides some good ideas on how that can be done.

The rest of the book has more great ideas including, practice your verb conjugations (called parsing), Reading fast at times (like skimming a book to get the main ideas), as well as reading slow to get the specific details. He also recommends using all of your senses to help you with Greek, including listening to it, reading it out loud, and writing it out. (What, no tasting?). After suggesting that it will be easier to get it back the second time around by using these ideas, Campbell concludes with a chapter that shows how he practices what he preaches.

This is an excellent tool for any serious student of scripture. It should certainly be given to any student who is finishing his Greek studies in Bible college or seminary so that they will be able to faithfully study and teach the Word of God. It won't be helpful for the average lay person, but I highly recommend it for anyone who is now studying or has studied the language.

Going to God's Gym

My blog is dedicated to the theme of 1 Timothy 4:7, in particular the final part of the verse: “Train yourself for godliness." Paul has left Timothy in Ephesus in order to provide some order and direction for the church from someone who represents him, Timothy, his adopted son and fellow-servant. He has already warned Timothy about false teachers in chapter 1, the need for a strong prayer life in chapter 2, and the guidelines for church leaders in chapter 3. In the fourth chapter he has warned him about the danger of apostasy, those who fall away from the faith. He wants Timothy to warn the church in Ephesus of this danger.

Then he comes to verse 7 and gives him two commands. First, he is to have no part in myths, or fables, that are irreverent or foolish and profane. Second, in contrast to such foolishness, he is instead to train himself in godliness. The word for train is the word that we use in English for gym. So Paul is telling Timothy to go to the gym and have a spiritual workout that will result in spiritual fitness which is called godliness. In fact, Paul goes on to tell him in the next verse that training your physical body has some value, perhaps temporal value for this life, but the exercise that he is talking about has eternal value.

What a great picture for the Christian! Most of us have had the experience (some of us many times), of starting an exercise regimen to get ourselves in shape. Perhaps it’s after the holidays and a part of our New Year’s resolutions. Or, we have a special event coming up where we want to look our best (that class reunion when we want to look the same as 20 or 30 years ago?). So off we go on some of type of diet and exercise plan. Of course, we have to get over some “pains”, both from the hunger as we diet, as well as the muscle pains from having neglected those workouts that we knew we should have been doing all along. But those who persevere, those who do the work, are rewarded with the improvement in our health. We probably won't always get the perfect body for which we were hoping, but we’re a lot better off than when we started.

The same is true for the spiritual diet and exercise plan that Paul is talking about. When we get serious about godliness, the lifestyle that is devoted to pleasing God, we may hurt for awhile as we are exposed to the Word of God and find all the areas in our life where we have failed to measure up; where we have put the world’s standards above God. It’s time to repent, to change our direction from following the world to following our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to put in the “work” in order to reach the goal of godliness. And we have the assurance that we will eventually get that perfect body, when Christ returns ((1 John 3:2)!

That brings us to the question of what is that “work”? What are the exercises that will bring us godliness? What does a believer have to do in order to follow these directions from the Apostle Paul? How do we train ourselves for Godliness? Some people call them the spiritual disciplines. A book that I have been reading lately is called Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. He has another companion book called Simplify Your Spiritual Life where he has short “how to” sections on the various spiritual life. Both books are excellent! In future blogs I will write about some of these ideas. But for now, just to get us thinking in the right direction, let’s just name some of them. Here is a list that will require quite a bit of explanation in the future: the Word of God (read, study, meditate, memorize); prayer (confession, worship, thanksgiving, as well as petition); worship; serving; giving; journaling; and, so as not to forget everyone’s favorite, fasting! There may be some others as well, but if you will do a quick, short evaluation of these that are mentioned, I’m sure you will find, as I have, that these actions will require some effort. They’ll probably even cause some pain! But it will be worth it. That’s God’s promise.We find that promise at the end of verse 8, where Paul says, “for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” This is the passage that I will keep in my blog as a reminder to my readers of where we are headed.

I will frequently write a prayer that represents what we might pray as a result of what God is teaching us in the various passages from His Word that I use for teaching. Here is my prayer for myself based on 1 Timothy 4:7.

Father,

You have blessed me with the nourishment of your Word,

from those who teach me through the written Word,

from those who teach me through the spoken Word,

from my own time of reading and studying in your Word.

May I be faithful, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, in practicing the life that is presented to me through such teaching.