If you're up to your eyes in the mess and mud, there's another path to walk.

The righteous rely on God, and the Psalms teach us how.

In the opening pages of the Psalms, believers discover foundational truth for right living and are invited to enter the great delight that belongs to the children of God. Meditating on God's Word is key to 'the pursuit of pleasure'. The Psalms are a treasure trove for such a pursuit. Walk with the Psalmist through good times and bad times, finding a wealth of reasons for the recipients of God's covenant love to take heart.

In this first instalment of his essential guide to the Psalms, trusted theologian Dale Ralph Davis leads readers through a careful study of Psalms 1-12 with clear application for daily life. Using his own translation, Davis sets out a verse-by-verse exposition and crystallises the Psalmist's message with cross-references to situate the passages in broader biblical context. With illustrations from history and personal experience, the truth comes alive.

An indispensable accompaniment to the Psalms. Suitable for use as a personal study guide or as a reference and teaching guide for facilitating small group study.

Read the rest of the series:

David Penchansky's What Rough Beast? is a study of six Old Testament stories. While many biblical theologies empasize reassuring images of God, Penchansky confronts those biblical passages where God is portrayed as irrational, malevolent, and even abusive, wrestling with the impact of these images on Christian faith. In dealing with these difficult passages, Penchansky contributes to a more authentic understanding of God.

This volume describes the lifecycle events and daily life activities experienced by girls and women in ancient Israel examining recent biblical scholarship and other textual evidence from the ancient Near East and Egypt including archaeological, iconographic and ethnographic data. From this Ebeling creates a detailed, accessible description of the lives of women living in the central highland villages of Iron Age I (ca. 1200-1000 BCE) Israel.

The book opens with an introduction that provides a brief historical survey of Iron Age (ca. 1200-586 BCE) Israel, a discussion of the problems involved in using the Hebrew Bible as a source, a rationale for the project and a brief narrative of one woman's life in ancient Israel to put the events described in the book into context. It continues with seven thematic chapters that chronicle her life, focusing on the specific events, customs, crafts, technologies and other activities in which an Israelite female would have participated on a daily basis.

The World and the Word is a fresh introduction to the Old Testament driven largely by the fact that so much Christian preaching and teaching today increasingly ignores what is eighty percent of the Bible. Authors Eugene Merrill, Mark Rooker, and Michael Grisanti work through the world and text of the Old Testament always making three major points:

- The Old Testament is a rich source of theology and doctrine that is presupposed by the New Testament. Without it, Christian theology would be seriously deficient.

- Mastery of the Old Testament is crucial to an understanding of the New Testament.

- The Old Testament offers, by teaching and example, practical principles of belief and behavior for contemporary times. Who God was and what He did then can be replicated in the lives of men and women today.

Separating the verifiable biblical and extra-biblical data from the various interpretations of that same information, the book further shows how the Old Testament forms the platform and matrix from which sprang the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus and the church. The World and the Word will help students see an entry point into the very heart and design of God who loves them and wishes to make them the special object of His grace.