The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul (New)

“Being intimately involved with the Church in China amid the turmoil and violence of the Cultural Revolution, I witnessed the banning of Bibles as well as public Bible burnings. Believers could only draw strength from the Scriptures they remembered. And by far, more than any other books of the Bible, it was the Psalms that were most memorized, recited, and hand copied. This book will indeed speak new inspiration to God's people today!”

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“An important guide for our journey in life with the Psalms! I have been teaching the book of Psalms for years and have found it important to have a holistic approach to it. As one of the church's greatest treasures, the church needs to understand how it speaks to us today. Schmutzer and Howard's book hits all these points!”

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“These essays are written with a high view of the Psalms as the Word of God and a deep knowledge of the Hebrew text, motivated by a Christ–centered piety. This work is paradigmatic for an evangelical approach to the Bible, wherein the scholarship and spirituality intertwine with one another. This volume is a useful tool for every student of the Bible, pastor, and preacher alike.”

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“The combination in this collection of technical studies, theological emphases, application discussions, and sermonic examples is brilliant. If you really want to understand and/or explain how and why the Psalms are so important to Christian faith and practice, get this book.”

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“Without in any way slighting the very best of source criticism and literary analysis, The Psalms restores to us a much maligned but absolutely central aspect of Biblical psalmody: namely, good old–fashioned piety. It is good to have the Psalms back.”

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“As one who serves pastors, church planters and other spiritual leaders, I highly recommend this work to all who love the Scriptures and love to teach. Its editors and authors share a high view of God's Word and address contemporary issues related to the Psalms with wisdom, keen insights and a passion for God's glory.”

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“Along with the Psalms themselves, God has blessed his people with keen and probing minds that continue to grapple with the longings, disorientations, and truths that the psalms express. These essays provide many wonderful introductions to that great conversation.”

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“This is a valuable and delicious collection of essays on the Psalter. The holistic ethos underlying the essays—which seeks to overcome conventional scholarly separation of exegesis from tradition, individual piety from community, interpretation from faith and biblical theology from preaching—is both bold and ambitious but important and necessary.”

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“Pain and suffering. Joy and delight. Frustration and lament. Worship and praise. The entire canvas of human emotions finds its expression in the Psalms. Yet this ancient hymnbook is rarely mined to its sublime depths. This valuable book, edited by Schmutzer and Howard, equips scholars and lay people alike to ‘rightly divide’ the psalter. Read from the masters and gain keen insights into this much loved portion of Scripture.”

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“I read this book and it made me want to go and immediately begin a preaching series on the Psalms. Sometimes I measure books by how great a push they give you to preach. I rank this book very high on that score! Let this excellent book serve as a guide so you can see how great His reign is.”

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“Understanding the Psalms is critical for recognizing the unique attributes of God in order for us to worship and obey Him properly. I am truly honored to recommend this work, which reveals the Almighty's goodness and grace, wholeheartedly to every pastor, Bible student, and believer.”

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“This book is a wonderful reflection of the Psalms themselves, exploring in cascading waves the same fundamental issues: God and his people, confidence and praise, sorrow and lament, life and death. Each article like each psalm has different, complementary insights, and each author like each psalmist has a living, interrogating, proclaiming faith. From the opening essays on biblical theology to the closing sermons, by way of the created world, the tension of pain and praise, the role of the king, and the formation of the psalter, these leading evangelical academics write from the heart as well as the head. Biblical study at its best!”

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“The Psalms offers exciting insights into the interpretation and texts of the biblical Psalms. It guides the reader into the twentieth–first–century study of the Psalms; shows the importance of reading the Psalms as a book; and makes the Psalms vivid for today. A library or classroom is not complete without this book.”

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“These carefully chosen essays offer a smorgasbord served by some of the most distinguished specialists in Psalms studies. They apprise the reader of current trends in Psalms study and provide important keys to interpretation, theology, and pastoral care. I commend this volume to pastors and scholars alike, who will find it enlightening and useful.”

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“The Psalms: Language for All the Seasons of the Soul is a delightful and insightful combination of the academic and the exegetical. This volume is comprised of a fascinating series of articles that will feed both mind and soul, and it encourages reading the Psalter from beginning to end, i.e., with the “grain” of the book.”

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“Books on the Psalter tend to fall into two categories. They are either wholly devotional, popular works that lack any real interaction with current scholarship or thoroughly scholarly monographs that say little to the church. Few books successfully bridge the gap between the two worlds. The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul, however, admirably draws together academic research and the life of faith.”

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“This book celebrates the lasting significance of the Psalms for the church. Through the centuries, in seasons of pain and pleasure, the Psalms have testified to the faithfulness of Yahweh and given Christians a voice for lament and praise. The volume supplies an effective guide and model that should serve both student and preacher and assist the church in recovering this biblical hymnbook.”

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“Schmutzer and Howard have achieved the rare feast of creating a book for “all seasons of the soul.” It reaches that rare equilibrium of rigorous scholarship, profound spirituality, and practical relevance, all the while without sacrificing the integrity of the Word as divine revelation.”

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“The Psalter has always been an essential theological and spiritual resource for Christians seeking to live faithfully. Showcasing the best in evangelical scholarship this present volume not only orients readers to key issues in the recent study of the Psalms, but unpacks the power of these ancient poems for contemporary living. Whether you read and use the Psalter on a regular basis or avoid it through fear or confusion, this volume will capture your imagination for the potential of psalms for sharpening your theology and deepening your faith.”

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“The Psalms: Language for All Seasons of the Soul is the product of a magnificent collaboration of evangelical scholars in their careful reading and exegesis of select Psalms of various genres, reading the psalter as a whole book, and profound reflection on the meaning and preaching of the Psalms. It is an impressive book that will serve well as a textbook for classes on the Psalms, exposing students to the best of scholarship in the field as well as the spirituality of the Psalter itself.”

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