In these two volumes we have copious information to assist us in a fuller appreciation of each of the 150 psalms. The author confesses in his Foreword that his approach has been to supply expositional help where needed, leaving the psalms themselves to “work their own miracle on the reflective and worshipful soul.”
Volume 1 commences with some useful explanatory notes on The Names of God, Music and Poetry in the Psalms, and then proceeds to a comprehensive introduction which treats such topics as Psalm Structure, The Imprecatory Psalms, Acrostic Psalms, and Musical Instruments in the Psalms.
After these helpful preliminaries we have 840 pages dealing with each psalm in the Psalter. These Notes are practical and comprehensive and bespeak many years of wide-ranging research. If a complete Bibliography were compiled of all sources of such a richness of information it would be a sizeable document indeed!
It is always helpful to know the historical background of a Psalm and this information is supplied together with the theme and “structure and outline” of each psalm where interesting and helpful data is available.
The “Messianic” aspect of the Psalms is extremely important, and this subject is extensively dealt with in the appropriate places. Brother Booker endorses the oft-made statement that all psalms have a Messianic content. He also makes some thought-provoking references to the Psalms as the “Fifth Gospel”, i.e., the record of Christ’s thoughts just as the other Gospel records detail his works and words.
Turning the pages of these books, one cannot help but be amazed at the variety of information that has been brought together. Of course the greater part of the Notes deal with historical details and references to other relevant sections of Scripture, and give the reader a goodly fund of ideas and suggestions to promote understanding and further study.
In many instances comparisons of various Scriptures are presented in tabular form for ease in comprehension, and many subjects of interest which deserve further explanation are the subjects of short essays.
For example, are you interested in acrostics? There is a wealth of material presented on this topic, particularly in the notes on that most famous acrostic of all — Psalm 119. And then on page 384 we find the beginning of a four-page article entitled Judgment Seat at Sinai? What has that to do with the Psalms, we ask? Well, Psalm 68:17 is one of the quotations put forward to support that idea-hence the well-reasoned and enlightening treatment of this subject.
But, in addition to the bulk of more weighty material, our brother has been able to gather together an abundance of pithy little paragraphs and poems too — each slotted into its appropriate little niche where it has some relevance to the Psalm under consideration. These poems have been culled from far and wide, and are the product of such diverse pens as C.A. Ladson, H. Mary Cole, C.H. Spurgeon, and Isaac Watts. His little “Postscripts” too are drawn not only from Christadelphian “pioneer” writers but also from writers with unfamiliar names, even anonymous in some cases! One such “Last Word” concludes Psalm 34 and is attributed to N.P. Holt. I find this paragraph both lovely and stimulating — so will you when you read it.
There are so many things to enthuse about in 840 pages that an adequate impression of such a richness of ideas cannot be passed on in such a brief review as this. There are so many things to surprise and delight us that I ask to be forgiven if! have dwelt too long on some of the incidental features which are the “sparkles” which lighten what is a sound and widely-researched work covering each of the 150 Psalms. I believe that if the author had not been so modest he might well have subtitled this work “Everything you need to know about the Psalms”.
Without any doubt these two books will be amongst the most frequently handled books on your shelf.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One