Shalom in Psalms

I love the Psalms. Not only were they the prayerbook of God's people in the early church and synagogue, they contain the prayers Jesus and His apostles prayed in private and in corporate worship too.

Reading these prayer-poems in various translations gives us a broader perspective of their beauty and meaning, but the Tree of Life version (TLV) helps us to hear a uniquely Jewish voice, which Jesus Himself had. Since the TLV especially interested me for its roots in the Messianic Jewish movement, I requested a review copy, which Baker Books kindly sent.

I wasn’t disappointed. Besides better hearing the original voice of the Psalms, commentary by Jeffrey Seif, Glenn Blank, and Paul Wilbur follows each prayer-poem, adding information and insights we might otherwise miss.

As Paul Wilbur tells us in “A Worship Leader’s introduction to the Psalms”:

“This book of meditations on the Psalms has been compiled not only for your edification but with the sincere desire for you to receive revelation that will inspire and provoke you to love and good deeds.

“I pray that the Holy One of Israel who breathed these words into the psalmists so many years ago will revive them in your heart with insight and revelation so that you may finish strong!”

In “A Literary Editor’s Introduction to the Psalms,” Glenn Blank writes:

“The psalms teach us many different ways to pray. Many prayers are deeply personal, reflecting circumstances… to which we can still relate today. Others are corporate, calling us to honor our God as a community.”

The book of Psalms contains worshipful lyrics, poems of thanks and praise, prayers of petition, and wisdom, which “urges us to trust in God’s ways, confess sin and do good, seek answers to difficult questions such as why evil people prosper while good people suffer in this life, and reaffirm God’s faithfulness to those who wait patiently on Him.”

To give you an example of the devotional readings or commentary below each psalm, these words from Jeffrey Seif accompanied Psalm 4:

“People who pursue futility and practice deceit suffer tragic ends, do they not? But ‘prayer changes things,’ as the saying goes, so every human being, though guilty, is but a single prayer away from a changed life – from experiencing God’s graciousness. This psalm assures us that God is particularly predisposed to reach down and help those who reach up and pursue Him.”

Reviewed by Mary Harwell Sayler, ©2017

Shalom in Psalms, paperback

Resources from Catholic, Protestant, and Evangelical Christian publishers

What a blessing to receive review copies of a variety of Bible resources! Three Christian publishers sent new releases for me to review without knowing I would have one from a Protestant book publisher, one from a Catholic book publisher, and one from an Evangelical press at the same time – an ecumenical delight!

First, Saint Mary’s Press kindly sent a review copy of Living in Christ: The Bible, The Living Word of God by Robert Rabe, Editor Steven McGlaun, and a publishing team, who obtained church approval as shown by the nihil obstat and imprimatur.

This sturdy paperback with slick photos and an eye-appealing layout offers an excellent resource for Christians from most denominational backgrounds. However, avid Bible readers might be confused by the Section 1 title “Revelation” since this does not refer to the book of Revelation but rather the revelation God gave biblical authors. More importantly, that opening title addresses God’s revelation of Himself through creation, love, Holy Scripture, salvation history, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Section 2 briefly overviews how the Bible came to us in many literary forms, from poetry and prophecy to parables, making this all-time best-seller a masterpiece of literature. The Bible has far more than literary genius, though, as “The Old Testament is our compass, pointing us in one direction and one direction only – on the pathway to Jesus Christ.”

Following a series of articles on Hebrew scriptures, the section on the New Testament says, “The four Gospels are the very heart of the Scriptures. The Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John herald the Good News that God came to earth to fulfill the promises made to our ancestors, to form a Covenant with all people, and to overcome the slavery of sin and the darkness of death. They are our primary source for all that was revealed in the life and teachings of our Savior and Messiah.” However, “The Gospels are not identical. Each (Gospel) presents Jesus’ life and teachings from a different perspective. Yet in harmony and without error, they announce the truth that Jesus is the one and only way to the Father.” Amen!

This highly recommended book goes on to offer a look at other books in the New Testament and also to provide insights into “The Liturgy of the Hours,” “The Lord’s Prayer,” “The Scriptures and the Rules of the Saints,” offering further help for the Christian life such as the Lectio Divina (praying with scripture.)

In addition to that review copy from a Catholic publisher, I received a copy of The A To Z Guide To Bible Signs & Symbols: Understanding Their Meaning and Significance from Baker Books, a well-established Evangelical press. Written by Neil Wilson and Nancy Ryken Taylor, this high-quality slick paperback includes color photographs, key verses, and sidebars relevant to the topic.

Each entry covers two pages, which provides consistency in the layout but doesn’t allow space for the coverage required for in-depth research. Nevertheless, the easy-to-read text and eye-appealing pages give readers a helpful overview of topics ranging from Altar to Zion.

For example, the entry for “Bride” has a subheading on the Church as the Bride of Christ, which says, “The lovely picture of a faithful bride and wife is picked up by both Paul and John in the New Testament to symbolize the relationship God wants to have through Christ with all those who make up the church. Believers have been bought with the bride-price of Christ’s blood and are now wooed by his love.”

The key verse for that entry comes from Isaiah 61:10. Then a sidebar reminds us that “Christ Jesus has no quarrel with His spouse. She often wanders from Him, and grieves Him – but He does not allow her faults to affect His love.”

For another example, the entry for “Fire” says that “Fire figures into the Bible in numerous ways – in daily life, religious ceremony, and as an instrument of warfare.” Also, “Fire is pictured as a purifying agent in people’s lives” as in refining gold and silver or in illustrating God’s judgment. Although I saw no mention of the tongues of fire that occurred at Pentecost (nor is there an entry for “Pentecost), the text under the subheading “Holy Fire” reminds us that “For biblical authors, the theophany of fire portrayed God’s power, holiness, and protection over his people.”

The third review copy I received came from Concordia Publishing in a nice reddish-brown pseudo-suede cover with cream-colored pages, a red marker ribbon, and an easy-to-read font. As the Preface tells us, the “Concordia Psalter intends to engage all Christians in singing the psalmody of the Church.” To enable readers to do that, “The tones are carefully selected to match the character of the psalm text…. Generally, only one tone is to be used with a psalm, but many of the tones are paired with complementary tones that can be used for singing longer psalms by switching tones somewhere during the course of the psalm.”

More importantly, these “Old Testament Psalms not only permit us to see Christ in them, but they also require it. Resurrection, eternity, a universal kingdom, forgiveness, even grace and blessing – each ultimately has its home and fulfillment in Jesus Christ,” Who embodies God’s Word.

With scriptures from the English Standard Version (ESV), the page for the 23rd Psalm begins with a musical notation followed by the Psalm and a prayer: “Lord Jesus, who alone is that one Good Shepherd, thanks be unto You for all Your spiritual and bodily benefits. Let the Word of Your salvation dwell among us richly, and suffer not that trusty staff, the Word of Your promise, to be taken from us.”

For another example, my favorite Psalm 103 includes two tones, the ESV text, and this prayer:

“Father of light, we praise You because You forgive iniquity and do not reward us according to our sins. What You promised to the fathers You have fulfilled in Your Son. As the east and the west can never come together, so remove our sins far from us, that they can be accounted to us no more, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.”


©2015, Mary Harwell Sayler, poet, writer, and reviewer, is a lifelong lover of Christ, the Bible, and the church in all its parts.


Concordia Psalter, suede-like cover




The A To Z Guide To Bible Signs & Symbols, paperback




Living in Christ: The Bible, The Living Word of God, paperback



…

The Baker Illustrated Guide to Everyday Life in Bible Times

While waiting for review copies of new editions and study Bibles to arrive, I received an A to Z (or, rather A to Y) resource book from Baker entitled Everyday Life in Bible Times. Since I don’t make a habit of reading reference guides cover to cover, I picked up the book, intending to look through enough pages to get an idea of the quality and thoroughness of content, but that’s not what happened.

Before I’d gotten beyond the “Preface,” the warm, informal style and interesting questions intrigued me. For example, “What did an armor-bearer do?” or “How did people hunt?” Then the first entry “Anoint” hooked my interest immediately in a discussion of olive oil, which rates highest on my list as a healthful cooking oil and skin softener too. Mixed with other oils in a specific biblical recipe “At God’s direction, the special oil was poured on the head of a person to mark him or her for special service, whether as a member of Israel’s clergy, as a political leader, or as a prophet.”

We probably knew that, but the book goes on to say, “Those anointed in this way had their lives change in three important ways. First, the one ‘anointed by the Lord’ stood out from the general population as a leader…. Second, the anointed one was not autonomous but was always subject to the will and desires of a superior. The ‘Lord’s anointed’ was a middle manager answering to a divine CEO. Third, anointing meant special protection was extended to these special leaders – protection that was unmitigated by circumstances. For example, David considered it unthinkable to harm Saul, the Lord’s anointed….”

The next entry, “Armor-Bearer,” didn’t sound as interesting to me, but it was! For example, the future King David could not trust King Saul to stop trying to kill him, and yet Saul totally trusted his life to David. Later, when severely wounded in battle, King Saul asked his current armor-bearer to finish him off – the very opposite of what the job entailed.

Throughout the book, color photographs give visual appeal to each slick page, silken to the touch, drawing me from page to page with the pleasure of leafing through a high-quality picture book for adults. I thought I’d just read the photo captions as I went along, but the content of the text proved too enticing to ignore. Not only does the author, John A. Beck, present interesting information, he shows its relevance to scripture, explaining the significance of metaphors, biblical images, and connotations of words we might otherwise miss.

For example, the childhood story most of us heard of David’s bringing down the giant Goliath often gave the impression of a little boy with a slingshot, rather than a young man with a sling that “added distance and power to the throw because centrifugal force was added to arm strength.” Because a slung stone could go a far greater distance than a spear, David actually had a physical advantage, but, more importantly, he had behind him the spiritual power of God.

As this beautifully done book continued to draw me, I read every entry, including the one for “Stiff-Necked,” which most likely began, not as an indictment against God’s people, but as a reference to draft animals who just would not do what was needed to get their master’s job done. “Strong neck muscles allow animals such as the camel, donkey, and ox to resist the guidance of their handlers,” who described those stubborn creatures as stiff-necked.

The last entry, however, reminds readers of how a yoke can link “two entities together in a close relationship – the kind Jesus calls us to have when He asks us to “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler


Everyday Life in Bible Times, hardback