I love commentaries, and even more so, I love the “Geneva Series of Commentaries” published by the Banner of Truth Trust. I enjoy sitting down with my Bible and a commentary. After reading the Bible passage, praying over it, asking questions of it, and seeking to rightly apply it to my own heart and life, I enjoy opening up a good commentary.
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To me, it’s like sitting down with a friend in order to listen to them explain what they had read in the Bible, what it means, how it points us to Christ, and how it applies to the Christian. Only this friend happens to be an excellent Bible scholar and theologian and who has spent years upon years studying a particular book of Scripture.
Who wouldn’t want to sit down with John Calvin to listen to him explain the Bible? That’s why I love commentaries, and the Geneva Series of Commentaries is written by some of my favorite “friends”. Perhaps you’ve heard of some of them: John Calvin, Andrew Bonar, Robert Haldane, Charles Hodge, Hugh Martin, and many more.
Psalms (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
A “friend” named W.S. Plumer wrote a massive commentary on the book of Psalms, and it has been included in this Geneva Series. Plumer was a Southern Presbyterian preacher and writer who took on the colossal task of writing a commentary on all 150 Psalms. Thank God, Banner of Truth has published this gigantic work for the first time in 1975 (it was originally published by Plumer in 1867) and has been reprinted three times already (the latest being in 2016).
At 1,211 pages, this commentary is much larger than many (perhaps all?) of the other commentaries that are included in the Geneva Series. The physical book is larger in every dimension than the other Geneva commentaries I have on my bookshelves. The hardcover book is a beautiful burgundy color with gold lettering on the spine. There is a beautiful picture of Geneva in both the very front and back of the book (as there is in all the volumes of this set). The dust jacket contains a stunning picture of a green landscape, though I am unable to find the place of the picture. The point is that the physical book itself is a wonderfully produced work.
Content
The contents of the book: phenomenal! I wish I could have met Plumer and sat under his teaching on the Psalms. He is a master exegete of this portion of Scripture! Plumer’s introduction itself is extremely helpful in interpreting this section of God’s Word. I especially liked Plumer’s discussion on “How far are the Psalms Messianic?” In his section on “Object of this Work” in the intro, he says that the “great object of this work is the glory of God and the edification of his church.” I believe that he has fulfilled his goal!
Apart from the introduction to the book, the entire 1,211 pages is literally all commentary on the 150 Psalms. As I read this book, I was blown away by the amount of content provided by Plumer on each Psalm. I could imagine waking up every day and spending the entire day focused on one Psalm, or perhaps even one verse of one Psalm. So much could be written! It made me smile to think of the great task of writing a commentary on the Psalms, spending that time diving into the depths of the riches of this portion of Scripture!
Plumer goes verse by verse, leaving nothing out, never skipping over a verse. This feat in itself is truly phenomenal! But Plumer goes further than that.
Doctrinal and Practical Remarks
At the end of his commentary for each individual Psalm, Plumer provides “Doctrinal and Practical Remarks” before moving on to the next Psalm. My book is open to Psalm 23 right now, and after 8.5 pages (these are big, long pages) of commentary on 6 verses, Plumer goes on to provide 29 remarks on this Psalm! This is where Plumer’s pastoral insights shine brightly!
Sometimes he may make a doctrinal remark about the text that is very valuable and helpful, but oftentimes he is speaking directly to the reader as if he were sitting across from you, encouraging you to look upon Jesus and be amazed at His glory! He even speaks to sinners, calling them to repent and to fall upon Jesus: “Sinner! Will you be saved? You are wandering on the dark mountains. Will you not take the Lord as your Shepherd? Your wants are many and are constantly increasing. Will you not turn? Oh that you would. You are lost, lost, LOST!…You are lost, but Christ’s errand into this world was to seek and to save that which is lost.” Have you ever read anything like that in a commentary before?
Layout
The layout of this book is wonderful and easy to use. The Psalms naturally go in chronological order, and when Plumer begins a new Psalm, there is an easy-to-see break and then bold capital letters reading PSALM ___. The entire Psalm is provided, including the title and inscription. I love that the Psalm is provided in verse-by-verse format (each line is a verse so that you can easily distinguish one verse from another). After that, you will find the verse number indented (each paragraph is a new verse), followed by the commentary for that particular verse. It’s very easy to follow.
Drawbacks
If I had to provide any critique, there would be two minor things.
- I would have liked to have seen the verse numbers stand out more than they do for easy referencing. The book is already huge, so spacing them out more wouldn’t be feasible, but perhaps making the verse number bold or a slightly bigger font would have been nice.
- The top of the page provides three things: page number, “STUDIES IN THE BOOK OF PSALMS,” and the Psalm that you’ll find on that page in Roman numeral format. I would have loved those Roman numerals to have been Arabic numerals for the sake of ease, although this book does provide good practice for Roman numerals!
Conclusion
Buy this book! The Psalms are one of my personal favorite portions of God’s Word, and I invite you to invite Plumer into your home to teach you more about this glorious portion of Holy Scripture! You won’t regret it. Take up and read!
Disclaimer: My thanks to The Banner of Truth Trust for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.
More Book Reviews in the Geneva Series of Commentaries
- Acts (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
- Colossians (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
- Galatians (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
- Hebrews (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
- Romans (Geneva Series of Commentaries)
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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