A Book Review: Songs of a Suffering King

I found Songs of a Suffering King by J.V. Fesko to be a breath of fresh air.  The book covers Psalms 1-8 a chapter at a time.  I used it as a devotional tool while on vacation recently and found it to be a great resource for that purpose.  I read the text of each Psalm and then went to Fesko's book to help me think more deeply about the chapter I had just read.  The layout of the book is extremely conducive to this approach.  I expect that this is the kind of approach that Fesko had in mind when writing the book.

There is nothing particularly revolutionary about the book.  It is not likely to be the next bestseller that everyone is rushing to purchase.  But it deals with the text of Scripture in a way that is faithful to the original context of each Psalm, helping the reader to think rightly about the Word and make good application based on that right thinking.

It is clear that Fesko writes from a wealth of knowledge derived from many years of studying the Psalms.  However, he does so in a way that is very accessible and easy to understand.

The thing that stood out to me the most about the book is the way that Fesko demonstrates how each Psalm points to Christ.  Thankfully though, Fesko does not spiritualize the Psalms, skipping over the original context.  He demonstrates how the original context fits with the Christological focus of each Psalm.

I would definitely recommend this book to someone looking for a resource to help them in understanding the Psalms, not in a technical sense, but in a way that evokes worship to God.  I hope that Fesko will consider providing a similar resource for the entire Psalter.  Such a project would be a great blessing to the church.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for this review as a part of the Cross Focused Reviews program.