Reviews: Psalms Commentaries

I preached Psalm 41 this weekend. This psalm concludes Book 1 of the Psalms. It also concludes our series through this first book. Part of me wants to camp in the Psalms for two more years (we’ve spent over forty weeks in this book). But, the Spirit is moving us on to 1 Peter next week.

Below are the main commentaries I consulted throughout the series along with my thoughts.


1. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary, Volume 5 by John W. Hilber
(John H. Walton General Editor)

I like this commentary series. It helps modern readers understand the context and situation of the original audience, and thus, gives the reader better insight into the meaning of the text. I found this particular resource only very occasionally helpful for Psalms.

Hilber often dives into the inter-cultural similarities between the psalmist and other Ancient Near East believes systems. While this is interesting, it most often fails to give meaningful insight into how the original audience would have responded to the words of the psalm.

This section of the volume was interesting but not terribly useful for my sermon preparation.

Rating: 2/5 (I didn’t like it)


2. Holman Old Testament Commentary: Psalms 1-75
by Steven J. Lawson
(Max Anders General Editor)

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This commentary is very simple and straightforward. I like that. Simplicity coupled with precision is often wonderful. Somewhere around Psalm 8 or so, the quality of the commentary began slipping, though. As I progressed further into this text, the commentary became less and less concrete and more abstract.

Toward the end of my series through Book 1, I found the commentary was simply rephrasing what was already being stated in the text. There were a couple of gems I found in this volume, but those were few and far between.

Rating: 2/5 (I didn’t like it)


3. John Phillips Commentary Series: Exploring Psalms – Volume 1
by John Phillips

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I wrote a full review of this commentary here.

To summarize: Phillips often uses some really good metaphors and images, but they are often very outdated. I found this volume sometimes helpful during my sermon preparations, but only moderately so.

Rating: 3/5 Stars (I liked it)


4. Kregel Exegetical Library: A Commentary on the Psalms–Volume 1 by Allen P. Ross

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There isn’t much to criticize about this commentary. I wish Ross interacted a bit more with the literary features of the text than he did. And the modern application sections were a bit short. But other than those two criticisms (and they are minor), this is a wonderful resource.

Ross dives into the text with both the mind of a scholar and the heart of a poet. He doesn’t minimize the beauty and emotions of the psalms but helps the reader see it more vividly.

I also like that Ross always has a “Big Idea” sentence for each psalm. These sentences are a bit too lengthy and complex for preaching purposes, but they helped me as a preacher make sure my big ideas were on track.

I have been very disappointed by the commentaries on the psalms I’ve sought out. But Ross’ is absolutely wonderful and a must-have for pastors diving into Book 1 of the Psalms.

Rating: 5/5 Stars (I loved it)

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