Commentary recommendations for Psalm 51

[timfost]

Hi all,

I will be teaching the the next two Sundays on Psalm 51. What are you favorite commentaries?

As always, thank you for your recommendations!

 

[Taylor]

My first choice is and always will be Calvin. I have told many people that I never consider myself to have thoroughly considered a passage until I have read Calvin’s comments on it.

 

[timfost]

My first choice is and always will be Calvin. I have told many people that I never consider myself to have thoroughly considered a passage until I have read Calvin’s comments on it.

Yes, I feel the same way. I already started reading Calvin on this passage!

Thanks!

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

Hi all,

I will be teaching the the next two Sundays on Psalm 51. What are you favorite commentaries?

As always, thank you for your recommendations!

Are you using Logos or looking to purchase physical books?

 

[Stephen L Smith]

Dr Lloyd-Jones on Psalm 51 has been a tremendous blessing to me https://www.amazon.com/Out-Depths-Psalm-Martyn-Lloyd-Jones/dp/1845506464

Also Calvin and Spurgeon

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

Spurgeon is great but I would choose Plumer without a doubt.

 

[timfost]

Are you using Logos or looking to purchase physical books?

E-books preferably, since my bookshelves are bursting at the seams!

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

E-books preferably, since my bookshelves are bursting at the seams!

William S. Plumer
https://archive.org/stream/studiesinbookofp1872plum#page/n8/mode/1up

Henry Ainsworth
https://books.google.com/books?id=5vADAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

J. A. Alexander
https://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/te...exander-Psalms/Alexander-PsalmsCommentary.htm

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

I can also pull some stuff from my Logos library if you need further expositions on any part or renderings from other translations.

 

[timfost]

I can also pull some stuff from my Logos library if you need further expositions on any part or renderings from other translations.

I will let you know, thank you so much!

BTW, I just finished teaching on Colossians and your John Eadie recommendation was my favorite. Quite an amazing work, and a wonderful recommendation!

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

I will let you know, thank you so much!

BTW, I just finished teaching on Colossians and your John Eadie recommendation was my favorite. Quite an amazing work, and a wonderful recommendation!

Praise God! I am glad you enjoyed it, brother. Eadie is my favorite commentator on Pauline epistles.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

I would choose Plumer

But you would not need him if you don't have a leaking pipe

Seriously, Banner of Truth recently reprinted this work. I am thinking of getting it myself https://www.puritanboard.com/threads/commentary-recommendations-for-psalm-51.97704/#post-1194173

 

[bookslover]

Derek Kidner.

 

[Charles Johnson]

David Dickson can't be beaten on the Psalms.
http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/A35945

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

David Dickson can't be beaten on the Psalms.
http://ota.ox.ac.uk/id/A35945

I was going to add Dickson today! Good call.

 

[psycheives]

Try The Prayer of a Broken Heart: Expository Discourse on Psalm 51 (Robert Candlish)

 

[Regi Addictissimus]

Try The Prayer of a Broken Heart: Expository Discourse on Psalm 51 (Robert Candlish)

I forgot all about this. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Ed Walsh]

Psalm 51. What are you favorite commentaries?

Hi Tim, and all,

Don't forget E. W. Hengstenberg. I am going through the Psalms with him right now. I attached a PDF of Psalm 51. His commentary is 38 pages long, verse by verse after a large overview which deals with technical terms and more. Devotional gems are here and there throughout.

Ed

 

[Jeri Tanner]

I'll throw in Andrew Bonar, "Christ and his Church in the Book of Psalms." He comments briefly but invaluably on each of the Psalms. Available on kindle for .99 or in book form. https://www.amazon.com/Christ-His-C.../ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

 

[Ed Walsh]

Don't forget E. W. Hengstenberg.

Below is a short example of his style.

This morning I was going through Psalm 16, and on verse 2, "O my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You,” The author translates the verse thusly,

"Ver. 2. (O my soul) thou sayest to Jehovah, Thou art my Lord, my salvation is not without Thee."
In the exposition of verse 2, the made the following (typical) comment on the trust that David had in God I thought was very edifying.​

The consequence of this is, that the soul, having again become conscious of itself, “rejoices and is glad,” in the sure expectation of God’s salvation, ver. 9. Such interlocutions, in which the sacred bards still and pacify their souls, like a child weaned by his mother, Ps. 131:3, have something indescribably moving and touching. The first expression of trust in the true God is this, that we say to Him, “Thou art the Lord;” the uncontrolled ruler over all in heaven and on earth; the possessor of all power; the dispenser of all safety; the One, without whom not a hair of our head can fall, who holds every breath of those who threaten us with destruction; the almighty Lord, whom heaven and earth obey; the supreme God, who has, and can do everything. “Who is it that orders all things? Who distributes all gifts? It is God; and He also is the One who can supply counsel and aid when we are ready to sink.”​

Hengstenberg, E. W. (1869). Commentary on the Psalms (Vol. 1, p. 235). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.​

 

[Jake]

Derek Kidner.

Here's a 2nd for Kidner.

 

[Don Kistler]

Arthur Hildersham has a massive commentary on Psalm 51. You could probably locate a copy on EEBO (Early English Books Online) at a good research library. Or perhaps it's on google.com/books.

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

Don't forget E. W. Hengstenberg. I am going through the Psalms with him right now.

Ed, was that work translated by the Irish Presbyterian OT scholar, James Gracie Murphy?

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

To answer my own question, it would appear that they employed different translators for the various volumes of the commentary. Patrick Fairbairn was the one who would have translated Psalm 51 (see pp 182ff).

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

Here is an extract from the commentary that Ed mentioned: E. W. Hengstenberg on the penitent’s knowledge of his sinful nature.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

Van Gemeren is one of the leading modern commentaries on the Psalms

 

[Ed Walsh]

Ed, was that work translated by the Irish Presbyterian OT scholar, James Gracie Murphy?

Hi Daniel,

Sadly, the version I have is devoid of all front matter. It goes from the title page to Psalm 1. I don't have time today to look into this further; Gladly, I have loads of work in front of me. You could download the link I put up in this post. It has the title page. Interesting: I got three "likes" but so far no one has looked at the sample I uploaded.

How are you doing?

Ed

 

[timfost]

no one has looked at the sample I uploaded.

Working on it!

 

[Reformed Covenanter]

Hi Daniel,

Sadly, the version I have is devoid of all front matter. It goes from the title page to Psalm 1. I don't have time today to look into this further; Gladly, I have loads of work in front of me. You could download the link I put up in this post. It has the title page. Interesting: I got three "likes" but so far no one has looked at the sample I uploaded.

How are you doing?

Ed

Thanks, Ed. My old supervisor, Dr Andrew R. Holmes, mentions Murphy as one of the translators in his new book The Irish Presbyterian Mind.

 

[KMK]

I have been loving Grogan.