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One of the Best Commentaries on the Psalms

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

One of the Best Commentaries on the Psalms

Commentary on the Psalms

It is extremely difficult to write a good commentary on the Psalms, partly because there are 150 of them, and if all you do is say the barest minimum about each Psalm you will easily end up with a commentary over 300 pages long.

The main reason that is difficult to write a commentary on the Psalms, however, is that they deal with the full range of human emotions. How does one go about analyzing and dissecting emotional poetry without killing it? In some ways, emotions are like jokes: you kill them if you have to explain them.

Both of these difficulties were masterfully solved by the leading Hebrew scholar, Allen Ross. He solved the first problem (that of length) by not even trying to fit a commentary on the Psalms into one volume, but published it as three volumes instead.

commentary on the Psalms - Allen RossVolume 1 covers chapters 1-41,Volume 2 covers 42-89, and Volume 3 covers 90-150. All 3 can be purchased from Amazon.

Regarding the problem of how to analyze emotional poetry, Allen Ross accomplishes this in three ways. First, he makes sure his commentary on the Psalms is not overly technical. Though he does frequently refer to Hebrew words, his language is not academic or full of theological jargon. He write plainly and simply, which is a sign of true genius. Also, there are relatively few footnotes for an academic commentary of this size.

Second, Allen Ross keeps from destroying the emotions in the text by providing the context in which the Psalm was written. By helping the student see what the author was going through, we can better identify with the emotions that were being felt. Though there is not much which is known about most of the Psalms, Allen Ross provides what is known.

For example, on Psalm 52, which is an imprecatory Psalm where David calls down curses upon his foes, Allen Ross indicates that this Psalm was probably written in connection to the incident with Doeg (1 Sam 22:17-23). This is helpful in understanding this Psalm, because all of us have felt this way at one time or another about our foes.

Finally, Allen Ross avoids killing the emotions in the text by providing commentary “In Expository Form.” In other words, the text of the commentary often reads more like the text of a sermon. It is still commentary, but it doesn’t read like a technical commentary, but more like an exhortation.

In the end, these are great commentaries on the Psalms. If you are looking to preach, teach, or study the Psalms, or simply want an aid for your summer devotional reading of the Psalms, I highly recommend Allen P. Ross’ Commentaries on the Psalms.

God is Redeeming Books Bible & Theology Topics: Bible commentary, Books I'm Reading, Psalms

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One of the best commentaries on Exodus I have read

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

One of the best commentaries on Exodus I have read

Exodus GarrettIf you are tired of reading commentaries on Exodus that seem to do nothing but talk about the Documentary Hypothesis (aka the JEDP theory), and if you have sometimes found yourself yelling at the pages “I don’t care if was the J, E, D, or P source, just tell me what the text means!!!”, then the new commentary on Exodus by Duane Garrett is for you.

I knew this commentary would be good when he wrote this about the JEDP theory:

Much of this discussion is of doubtful value, either in terms of gaining better tools for interpreting the text or in terms of finding criteria for dividing it into its supposed sources. It maintains only a shell of intellectual coherence (p. 17; cf. p 18).

This is a scholarly and gracious way of saying “The JEDP debate is BS.”

And the commentary only got better from there.

I loved his insistence on an early date for the composition of Exodus. He doesn’t side with the “scholarly consensus” that Exodus was written during the post-exilic era.

Following in the same vein, Garrett actually believes that Moses wrote Exodus! While I often benefit from commentaries that were written by source-critical scholars, I find it so refreshing to read a commentary written by a world-class scholar who actually believes Moses wrote Exodus during the time period in which the events took place.

Speaking of which, Garret actually believes the events of Exodus took place. Again, in today’s scholarly circles, this is a very rare position to take! But I love it.

Exodus Garrett

Best of all, Garrett writes his commentary much as he says the book of Exodus was written: “the vocabulary consists primarily of common words” (p. 21). Garrett writes to be understood; not be prove how smart he is. Again, it is so refreshing to read commentaries of this sort.

As I read through the introductory material, I found his discussion of Pharaoh Akhenaten’s conversion to monotheism to be absolutely riveting, as well as his thorough and detailed summary of the date of the exodus and the location of the Red Sea crossing. But then, I’m a bit of a Bible geek.

As for the commentary on the book of Exodus itself, it was top-notch. Most of the questions I had about Exodus were given adequate space for discussion. He talked about how the ten Plagues may have been designed to prove the powelessness of the Egyptian pantheon (though he ended up saying that this was not the point, p. 301).

He also wrote a good discussion of “Theodicy in Exodus” which is an attempt to explain how God could get Himself involved in the questionable behavior of killing children in the 10th plague (p. 214; I was not fully satisfied with his explanation on this).  And of course, in light of a recent study of mine, I was glad to see that he wrote several pages about the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart (p. 370).

One great element to this commentary is that each section concludes with some helpful “Key Theological Points.” This allows the commentary to not just be an explanation of the text, but also to show the student of Exodus how the text guides and informs our theology.

If you are preaching through Exodus or studying it on your own, this commentary on Exodus by Duane Garrett is definitely one you show consult.

 

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible commentary, Bible Study, Books I'm Reading, commentary, Exodus

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On Writing, John Calvin, and ID Theft

By Jeremy Myers
23 Comments

On Writing, John Calvin, and ID Theft

You may have noticed I haven’t posted much this week. Why not? A lot has been going on.

LifeLock

First, I had one of my credit card accounts stolen this week. Thankfully, the credit card company caught it before it got too out of hand. The thief made almost $5000 worth of purchases online, but I think that since the company caught it so quickly, nothing was actually shipped out.

But as a result, I spent a good chunk of the week making sure all my other accounts were secure, signing up for LifeLock, and taking a few other steps to protect myself from this in the future. I am one of those “I never thought it could happen to me” people. But then it did.

And I am still recovering from it and holding my breath to see what else they got ahold of… I do recommend LifeLock if you don’t already have ID theft protection. They seem to be the best.

Writing

writingSecond, I realized my book on the violence of God is getting out of control. WAY out of control. I am nearly at 100,000 words and only about half way through the book. What I have written on the flood is nearly 20,000 words all by itself. I’m drowning in the flood. That’s bad.

Also, I am getting somewhat bored with the topic, and if I am getting bored, I am pretty sure you might be getting bored with it too. I think what I might do is cut out the 20,000 words I have written on the flood, and summarize it down into 1000 words or so. What do you think of this idea? Of course, I have only posted about 5000 words so far of the 20,000 I have written, so maybe I should post the next 15,000 over the next two weeks or so, and then let you decide whether it is worth keeping….

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible commentary, Books by Jeremy Myers, John Calvin, Jonah, Theology - General, writing

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The Christmas Song of Mary

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

The Christmas Song of Mary

Mary Mother of Jesus Christ

Though the Magnificat is sometimes referred to as a Christmas song of Mary, she didn’t actually sing it after Jesus was born, but about nine months before His birth (see Luke 1:39-56).

Regardless, the significance of the song is not when she sang it, but what it is she sang. Here is an except from a sermon I preached on the Magnificat many years ago:

Mary’s song is a beautiful reminder of all that God has done for us and has promised to do for those who follow after Him. It is a new song that burst from the lips of Mary based on what she knew Scripture to say.

This song, for me, seems to end abruptly. All of a sudden, it’s just over. It stops. Maybe Mary drifted off into humming her tune. Maybe Luke didn’t record all of her song. But I think her song ended just as recorded here—with an abrupt stop.

Why? Because her song is not over. This was just the first verse of millions more to come. She sang many more stanzas throughout her life, and the men and women of God throughout time who allow the words of Scripture to penetrate their minds have added many more words to this song.

You can add your own verse too. Your life is a stanza in the greatest song ever written. You are part of a divine symphony. How are you playing your piece?

It’s like the end of the book of Acts. Acts 28 ends without any conclusion. It seems that there should be an Acts 29. And there is. There is no end to Acts, because you and I are continuing to write chapters in that book which records the acts of the Christians in the church. You and I are Acts 29, and 30, and 31 and on and on. It’s similar with Mary’s song. You and I are writing more stanzas.

“It must never be forgotten that whenever Christ has entered into the human heart, a new song has been put into the mouth of the believer. Christianity in the heart means music in the life. A religion without joy is a landscape without the sun. Christianity without the elevation of music is as an eagle with broken wings.”

Mary’s song really is beautiful, and if she actually sang it (the text reports that she “said” it (Luke 1:46), I really wish we had the music as well. This song is full of depth and beauty which reflects the heart and mind of Mary, and shows us why God chose her to be the mother of Jesus.

Click here to the rest of the sermon on Luke 1:46-55, the Song of Mary. Check out these links if you would like to learn about other Scriptures on Christmas or meditations on Mary.

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible commentary, Bible Commentary on Luke, Christmas, Discipleship, Luke 1, Magnificat, Mary

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The Troubles of Joseph and Mary

By Jeremy Myers
11 Comments

The Troubles of Joseph and Mary

One of my favorite passages is Isaiah 28:27-28.

…caraway is beaten with a rod, and cummin with a stick. Grain must be ground to make bread…”

Do you ever feel like the caraway, the cummin, and the grain in this verse?

Do you ever feel like life is beating you with a stick? Like you are being ground to pieces?

Do you ever feel like all the world is against you? Like nothing goes your way? Like even God has turned away from you?

You have financial problems, and health problems, marital problems, family problems, job problems, car problems, and on and on it goes.

Joseph and Mary faced many of these troubles as well, and they had the added pressure of being the parents of the promised Messiah. Imagine that burden!

Joseph and Mary
This scene is from “The Nativity Story” which is one of the best movies about the birth of Jesus I have ever seen.

Yet as they faced their troubles and obeyed God, He sent angels and shepherds and wise men to welcome the birth of their son.

Just as with Mary and Joseph, troubles and trials in life are tools in the hand of God to mold us and shape us and make us into something beyond our imagination. When trials and troubles come into your life, you may feel like you are getting beaten with rods and ground into powder, but as Isaiah 28 says, grain must be ground to make bread.

God is making you into something great. In whatever trials you are facing, ask God these kinds of questions: Say, “Father, what are you trying to teach me in this situation? How can this trial make me more like Jesus Christ? What chaff in my life are you trying to grind out of me? How can this troubling time make me better instead of bitter?”

God wants to change your troubles into trumpets if you will only let him perform His work in you.

(This Christmas meditation is drawn from a sermon on Luke 2:1-20 I preached several years ago when I was a pastor. For more Christmas meditations, see Scriptures on Christmas.)

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible commentary, Bible Commentary on Luke, Christmas, Discipleship, Joseph, Luke 2, Mary

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