A PATHWAY INTO THE PSALTER

A highly valuable work. It is not an exposition but can readily be used as such for it possesses a good index to the passages treated of. Dr. Binnie reviews with great skill and intense devotion the various sacred poems contained in the Book of Psalms and gives the general run and character of each one. His work is unlike any other and supplies a great desideratum. - C.H. Spurgeon from ''Commenting & Commentaries'' In the early part of the twenty-first century we are inundated with works on the Psalms both for an academic and for a popular audience. In addition reprints of some of the old classics on the Psalms such as Spurgeon''s ''Treasury of David'' are readily available. However there is one nineteenth century work on the Psalms that is of great value to the preacher that has apparently not been reprinted since the late nineteenth century the book noted above. It is as the subtitle suggests divided into three sections. The first deals with the historical development of the book from the time of Moses (Psalm 90) down to the post-exilic period. The second section deals with the teachings or as we would more likely say today the theology of the Psalms. This includes very helpful treatments of the various ways in which the Messiah is set forth in the Psalms as well as personal and social religion in the Psalms. In addition Binnie treats the issue of the imprecatory Psalms in a useful manner. The final section traces the history of the use of the Psalms in both the Jewish and the Christian church. - Dr. Ben Shaw Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary