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Faith in Exile: Psalm 119 and the Christian Life
In this illuminating commentary on Psalm 119, David VanDrunen offers a fresh perspective on the Bible’s longest chapter, exploring its profound relevance for Christians today. Through careful exposition of the psalm’s twenty–two stanzas, VanDrunen reveals how this ancient text speaks to contemporary believers who, like the psalmist, live as ‘sojourners’ in a world that is not their true home.
160 pages, Paperback
Published July 8, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 24, 2025
But we can endure our present sojourn without needing to wonder whether God has forsaken us or is angry with us. We wait patiently for Christ to return, with great confidence that we are right with God by faith and that he keeps our heavenly inheritance firm and secure until that day."
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. This little book works through this Psalm and shows Christians how we are sojourners in this life and this is not our home. We are exiles. I found this book to be a helpful little book on the Psalm. It is a pretty light read, but full of encouragement from God's word and continues to point the reader back to Jesus.
My only real concern was how the author of this book describes the "fear of the Lord". I disagreed with his definition.
I really appreciated that the author points back to Jesus, as he works his way through the Psalm with the reader. This book was very much focused on Christ!
Thank you @christianfocuspublications for a copy of this book for my honest thoughts!
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. This little book works through this Psalm and shows Christians how we are sojourners in this life and this is not our home. We are exiles. I found this book to be a helpful little book on the Psalm. It is a pretty light read, but full of encouragement from God's word and continues to point the reader back to Jesus.
My only real concern was how the author of this book describes the "fear of the Lord". I disagreed with his definition.
I really appreciated that the author points back to Jesus, as he works his way through the Psalm with the reader. This book was very much focused on Christ!
Thank you @christianfocuspublications for a copy of this book for my honest thoughts!
July 5, 2025
Christian Focus Publications sent me a copy of “Faith in Exile: Psalm 119 and the Christian Life” by David VanDrunen in exchange for an honest review.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, divided into stanzas marked off by each letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It’s rather intimidating to approach, but it’s a somewhat unexplored goldmine. VanDrunen recognizes a lack in popular expositions of Psalm 119: “there does not seem to be a crowded field of thorough studies of Psalm 119 that treat the Great Psalm as a coherent, logically organized, Christ-centered poem written by a godly and brilliant poet who adhered to a thoroughly old covenant religious faith yet eagerly expected the greater things of the new covenant and new creation” (9). In other words, VanDrunen’s approach is not only to explore the teaching of each individual stanza, but also to demonstrate how each stanza is an essential part of a glorious whole.
I don’t want to say too much, since this is a short work and I want you all to experience this book for yourselves. I do have a few general remarks that I hope will pique your interest. First, VanDrunen is a pastor as well as a scholar. The reputation he has among those who only know him for his political theology is that of a cold, erudite, ivory tower theologian. This book shatters such illusions. It is expository and pastoral. Second, I’m more confident in VanDrunen as a professor. He is a professor of Christian ethics at Westminster Seminary California, and as such I’ll have him for classes. I already had good expectations of him from the commendation of a mentor of mine, but this has solidified my expectations. Finally, this book has been helpful to me and how I view my Christian walk. In this regard, I’d say VanDrunen solidly succeeds in what he set out to do with his book. I highly recommend this book to all of you.
Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, divided into stanzas marked off by each letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It’s rather intimidating to approach, but it’s a somewhat unexplored goldmine. VanDrunen recognizes a lack in popular expositions of Psalm 119: “there does not seem to be a crowded field of thorough studies of Psalm 119 that treat the Great Psalm as a coherent, logically organized, Christ-centered poem written by a godly and brilliant poet who adhered to a thoroughly old covenant religious faith yet eagerly expected the greater things of the new covenant and new creation” (9). In other words, VanDrunen’s approach is not only to explore the teaching of each individual stanza, but also to demonstrate how each stanza is an essential part of a glorious whole.
I don’t want to say too much, since this is a short work and I want you all to experience this book for yourselves. I do have a few general remarks that I hope will pique your interest. First, VanDrunen is a pastor as well as a scholar. The reputation he has among those who only know him for his political theology is that of a cold, erudite, ivory tower theologian. This book shatters such illusions. It is expository and pastoral. Second, I’m more confident in VanDrunen as a professor. He is a professor of Christian ethics at Westminster Seminary California, and as such I’ll have him for classes. I already had good expectations of him from the commendation of a mentor of mine, but this has solidified my expectations. Finally, this book has been helpful to me and how I view my Christian walk. In this regard, I’d say VanDrunen solidly succeeds in what he set out to do with his book. I highly recommend this book to all of you.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews