Jonathan Edwards And The Psalms

Throughout church history, the book of Psalms has enjoyed wider use and acclaim than almost any other book of the Bible. Early Christians extolled it for its fullness of Christian doctrine, monks memorized and recited it daily, lay people have prayed its words as their own, and churches have sung from it as their premier hymn book. While the past half century has seen an extraordinary resurgence of interest in the thought of American theologian Jonathan Edwards, including his writings on the Bible, no scholar has yet explored his meditations on the Psalms. David P. Barshinger addresses this gap by providing a close study of his engagement with one of the Bible's most revered books. From his youth to the final days of his presidency at the College of New Jersey, Edwards was a devout student of Scripture-as more than 1,200 extant sermons, theological treatises, and thousands of personal manuscript pages devoted to biblical reflection bear witness. Using some of his writings that have previously received little to no attention, Jonathan Edwards and the Psalms offers insights on his theological engagement with the Psalms in the context of interpretation, worship, and preaching. Barshinger shows that he appropriated the history of redemption as an organizing theological framework within which to engage the Psalms specifically, and the Bible as a whole. This original study greatly advances Edwards scholarship, shedding new and welcome light on the theologian's relationship to Scripture.

Explore the Bible through the mind of one of the greatest theological minds of the eighteenth century, Jonathan Edwards. During his career, Dr. Edwards recorded in writing his thoughts on biblical passages in the form of sermons. This text includes his commentaries from the Bible that refer to passages from the Old Testament books of Genesis through Psalms.

In his third book of daily meditations, Sam Storms urges readers to not just enter into God's Word but to take the next step toward knowing him and his Word better. And the book of Psalms, Storms believes, is a great place to start, because Psalms is so popular and so very relevant to our experiences today. In More Precious Than Gold, Storms combines years of life experience and his biblical and theological training to bring readers 50 brief, daily meditations that are both stylistically accessible and theologically substantive. Each meditation includes a historical or theological reflection on the psalm in context, a story that brings it alive, and creative tools to support the key idea. Storms also interweaves the words of such luminaries as Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, and John Piper to help readers better understand the concepts that are featured throughout Psalms: worship, prayer, joy, forgiveness, steadfast love, mercy, sin's consequences, the law of the Lord, and our relationship with our enemies. Like the Psalter, Storms doesn't shy away from the tough issues. Instead, he encourages readers to experience through these daily meditations what he and generations of Christians have found to be true: that the whole of the Christian faith is about lifting God higher and magnifying his name-even during difficult times.

Preached at Enfield, Connecticut on July 8, 1741, this is perhaps the greatest sermon ever preached in America—and is certainly among the most well known. Owing to its forthright dealing with God’s wrath and His intense hatred of sin and the sinner, it is also one of the most controversial. Indeed, for more than three-quarters of the sermon Edwards lays down a relentless stream of the most vivid and horrifying descriptions of the danger facing unregenerate men. While it is difficult to read such graphic language, there is abundant hope in the sermon’s conclusion. Edwards puts it this way, “And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open and stands calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners.” While those who would rather ignore God’s justice in favor of His mercy condemn Edwards and his sermon, those who were present and actually heard him preach that day reacted in a decidedly different manner. According to the diary of Reverend Stephen Williams who attended the sermon, “Before the sermon was done there was a great moaning and crying through the whole House, ‘what shall I do to be saved; oh, I am going to hell, etc.’” The diary goes on to indicate that Edwards had to interrupt his sermon and come down to minister to those who were under such awful conviction. And so, in spite of what the scoffers might think or say, “the amazing and astonishing power of God” was manifested among the people that day—with many falling not into the hands of an angry God, but into the arms of a mighty Savior.

The Jonathan Edwards Renaissance is fully underway, with an increased emphasis on Edwards as an exegete and interpreter of Scripture. In this work, Brian Borgman explores Edwards's exegetical, hermeneutical, and theological treatment of the book of Genesis. This study gives special attention to Edwards's hermeneutics and exegesis of Genesis, his pastoral methods for preaching it, and his theological development of the meaning of "the image of God." The result is a fruitful study on Edwards's interaction with the first book of the Bible.

This year, get to know the true Jonathan Edwards—and see the hand of God in your own life like never before. Jonathan Edwards is one of the most respected early American theologians. In Always in God’s Hands, Owen Strachan recovers the real Jonathan Edwards—the thinker, the compassionate father, the courageous reformer—as opposed to the caricature of him that is often presented. Edwards believed God was ever-present in each of our lives, caring and encouraging us in every moment. In a moving letter to his daughter, he reminds her of that comforting truth by describing her as “always in God’s hands.” Through daily quotes from Edwards’s letters and sermons, this inspirational devotional reveals the soaring theology and comforting spirituality of one of history’s most faithful and gifted pastors. With each meditation, compiler Owen Strachan offers refreshing and relevant insights, encouraging you in your walk with God.