Book Review: The Essential Bible Companion To The Psalms, by Brian L. Webster and David R. Beach

There are two types of books a student of the Bible can benefit from. Commentaries, which can be very involved and theologically deep and companions, which can serve as quick references or summaries. While both resources can vary in skill and ability required to utilize them fully, the latter tends to be more accessible for the every day reader.

The Essential Bible Companion to the Psalms is an excellent example of accessibility. Sitting down with the Psalms and giving them a cursory read will often leave the reader with questions or confusion. But, this new resource from Zondervan helps illuminate several key areas of each Psalm for the reader,

• Theme - an overarching and common thread that runs through each Psalm
• Type - categorized by various genres of Psalms that appear in the Scriptures
• Background - a contextual synopsis of the historical and literal events that influence the understanding of the Psalm itself
• Structure - a brief exposition of the Psalm verse by verse
• Special notes - a breakdown of unfamiliar terms or ancient references that may be culturally unfamiliar

Last but not least, each Psalm has a brief reflection to summarize the message of the passage. Although each entry for each Psalm appears short and lacking on the page, the information is concise and accurate, providing ease of reading and appropriate information for studying one of the greatest treasure troves of Scripture, the Psalms.

I highly recommend you picking this book up, it is well worth having as a desk reference, coffee table book, or sitting on the reference section of your bookshelf.

I received this book from Zondervan in exchange for an unbiased book review.