Psalms For You by Christopher Ash is one volume of many in the “God’s Word For You” series published by The Good Book Company. Christopher Ash is the Writer-in-Residence at Tyndale House, Cambridge, UK, and has been teaching and preaching the Bible for many years. As this book (along with his other writings) has shown, he is a man who knows how to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
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Psalms For You
The Psalms For You volume is the first in 2020 to be published in the “God’s Word For You” series. This is the first volume in this series that I have interacted with (even though the series has been around for at least the past six years).
As Carl Laferton (the series editor) mentions in the preface, the aim of this series is to be Bible-centered, Christ-glorifying, relevantly applied, and easily readable. Each volume is written in such a way so that the reader may read, feed, and and/or lead. In other words, this book could be read from cover to cover, or as a daily devotional, or as a resource that assists in preparation to lead others through the study of God’s Word.
Is Psalms For You a Commentary?
I was under the assumption that the “God’s Word For You” series was a series of commentaries. However, Laferton says that “These books are not commentaries. They assume no understanding of the original Bible languages, nor a high level of biblical knowledge.”
I must admit that I was nervous when I first read that.
I figured that it wouldn’t be what I had expected it to be (a commentary on the book of Psalms). I figured that it wouldn’t go to the depths that I was hoping for it to go. Essentially, since Laferton mentioned that it was not to be confused with a commentary, I figured that it would be too watered down for what I was hoping to encounter in this series.
All of that figuring could not have been further from the truth!
Ash dealt with the text, verse by verse, and I was not left wanting more most of the time. Instead, Ash not only exposited the Word of God thoroughly and clearly, but he also pastorally applied the text to the reader’s heart, helping the reader to rightly apply the text to real life.
In Ash’s introduction, he invites the reader to “Come, learn to pray” using the Psalms as our guide. This includes learning to pray Christocentrically since it is His Spirit by Whom we pray, and it is His Word, all of which points to Him!
With these things being mentioned at the outset, I can’t express how much I love this book! It has far surpassed what I was expecting. But before I get into more praise for the book, let me provide some more information about the book.
Features of Psalms For You
The Cover: This volume, like all others, is a hardcover book. The cover is really neat! I like how they place the author’s name at the top, the title at the bottom, and a neat little saying on the “read, feed, and lead” goal for the book.
Size: I also like the size of the book. Most of my commentaries are rather large, but this book is small enough that it could be comfortably held and read for long periods of time.
Content: This volume is 281 pages, including the glossary, appendix, bibliography, and acknowledgments. Obviously with the book being under 300 pages, Ash does not cover all 150 psalms. Since he is going verse by verse through the Psalms, he chooses 16 related pairs of Psalms for a total of 32.
Layout: Each chapter is divided into 2 parts (each chapter is a part). As one works through the chapter, each verse is in bold text (making it very easy for those who are using this as a resource to teach). There are also bold headings that help the reader to know what each section of the text is about. I also like the added touch of the indented quotes found on some of the pages. Each chapter includes questions for reflections.
Now, please hear me out at this point! Many books provide questions at the end of a chapter. I am guilty of skipping over those questions at times because of how poorly they can be written (not always practical; sometimes too easy, sometimes too complicated; etc.). Ash writes out questions that are actually helpful and useful! Don’t skip over these.
Glossary: Lastly, I just want to mention that there is a glossary included at the back of the book. Every now and then, the reader will come across a word that is gray, indicating that the word is found in the glossary due to it being a word that is not used in everyday language outside of the church. This can be very helpful!
Drawbacks to Psalms For You
In all of my reviews, I attempt to provide some cons of the book. This would be my only con, that I wish the book were longer, or at least that the book of Psalms was broken into multiple volumes.
Ash did such a great job on these 32 Psalms, that I wish he would have been granted the opportunity to exposit more of them (if not all of them). But considering this book contains only 16 pairs of Psalms, Ash does an excellent job of choosing different types of Psalms (some very familiar to many, some not familiar at all to many) and helping the reader to understand how to interpret the other Psalms that aren’t covered in this book.
Conclusion
Psalms For You is an excellent book! I am excited to read more books in the “God’s Word For You” series, and I want to highly commend this one to you. All Christians, no matter where they are in the journey, will benefit from this great book! Take up and read.
Other Book Reviews in the “God’s Word For You” Series:
- 1 & 2 Samuel For You
- 1 & 2 Timothy For You
- 2 Corinthians For You
- Colossians & Philemon For You
- Ephesians For You
- Exodus For You
- Galatians For You
- John For You
- Luke For You
- Philippians For You
- Revelation For You
- Romans For You
- Titus For You
Related Book Reviews by The Good Book Company:
Disclaimer: My thanks to The Good Book Company for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Matt became a joyful follower of Jesus at the age of 21. He is very grateful to be a husband to Lindsey, and a father to four boys. He is an ordained minister (teaching elder) in the PCA. He previously served as a pastor of biblical counseling and is currently a corporate chaplain in southern Delaware. Matt received his Master of Divinity degree in Biblical Counseling from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and holds an advanced certification in biblical counseling from the Association of Biblical Counselors. In his free time, he loves playing with his boys, traveling with his wife, and reading (and buying!) books.
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