SLOGGING ALONG IN THE PATHS OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Psalms 13-24
By Dale Ralph Davis
Christian Focus. 192 pages. £8.99
ISBN 978 1 781 913 048
After publishing on Psalms 1-12 (The Way of the Righteous in the Muck of Life), Dale Ralph Davis thought he was done, but he found himself ‘tempted’ by the next dozen – and we can be glad he ‘fell’. For he has given us a set of matchless expositions, faithful, contemporary and pastoral.
He knows his Hebrew, has really wrestled with the meaning of the texts and communicates those thought processes and results deftly. He has a vivid, even mischievous, imagination, which enlivens his explanations. He has a drawerful of brilliant illustrations, many from what he calls the War Between the States. The title reveals something of the author’s understanding of the Christian’s life, but it masks the way he consistently links the ‘slog’ of discipleship with worship, the subject or purpose of many of these Psalms. Along the way he asks the kind of theological and pastoral questions we ask – and offers his answers sensitively. So the texts are brought to life and speak to our lives. Some of these Psalms (e.g. 19 and 23) are pretty familiar, but the exposition is fresh. Some are much more obscure and can even seem difficult to apply (e.g. 15) but the connections are made.
