Psalms 1-41

Thru the Bible #17

by J. Vernon McGee

Radio messages from J. Vernon McGee delighted and enthralled listeners for years with simple, straightforward language and clear understanding of the Scripture. Now enjoy his personable, yet scholarly, style in a 60-volume set of commentaries that takes you from Genesis to Revelation with new understanding and insight. Each volume includes introductory sections, detailed outlines and a thorough, paragraph-by-paragraph discussion of the text. A great choice for pastors - and even better choice for the average Bible reader and student Very affordable in a size that can go anywhere, it's available as a complete 60-volume series, in Old Testament or New Testament sets, or individually.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

John Vernon McGee was born in Hillsboro, Texas, in 1904. Dr. McGee remarked, "When I was born and the doctor gave me the customary whack, my mother said that I let out a yell that could be heard on all four borders of Texas!" His Creator well knew that he would need a powerful voice to deliver a powerful message.

As a student pastor, Dr. McGee's first church was located on a red clay hill in Midway, Georgia. It was there that he received his greatest compliment: "It was from a country boy wearing high buttoned, yellow shoes. After a morning service he came to speak to me. He groped for words, then blurted out, 'I never knew Jesus was so wonderful!' He started to say more but choked up and hurried out of the church. As I watched him stride across the field, I prayed, 'Oh, God, help me to always preach so that it can be said, I never knew Jesus was so wonderful.'"

After completing his education (earning his A.B. from Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee; his B.D. from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia; his Th.M. and Th.D. from Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas), and after pastoring Presbyterian churches in Decatur, GA, Nashville, TN, and Cleburne, TX, he and his wife came west, settling in Pasadena, where he accepted a call to the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church. He recalls this period as the happiest in his life, with a young family and a young congregation whom he loved.

Dr. McGee's greatest pastorate was at the historic, Church of the Open Door in downtown Los Angeles, where he served from 1949 to 1970. There he began a daily radio broadcast called "High Noon Bible Class" on a single station.

Dr. McGee began teaching Thru the Bible in 1967. After retiring from the pastorate, he set up radio headquarters in Pasadena, and the radio ministry expanded rapidly. Today the program airs on over 400 stations each day in the United States and Canada, is heard in more than 100 languages around the world and is broadcast worldwide via the Internet.

Reviews

[Wesley Roth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fall I started to incorporate a Psalm or two in my daily devotional time. The J Vernon McGee study guides are excellent, especially with understanding or wrestling with certain hard-to-understand psalms. I am using the smaller paperback books (from 1982), which are great to take on the go. My pastor uses McGee in his sermon prep and sometimes incorporates his excellent teaching into his sermons. I start the next book on Psalms by McGee tomorrow! McGee's teaching is such a blessing to me and millions around the world!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

First sentence: The title in the Hebrew means Praises or Book of Praises.

I am reading the Bible in 2020 using the daily M'Cheyne (Robert Murray M'Cheyne) plan. I thought it would add a layer of substance to in addition to the four chapters a day, to also read commentaries for those chapters. For that I am using Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible. But the plan goes through the New Testament (and Psalms, I believe) twice. So now that I've finished Henry's commentary for the New Testament, I am tackling the New Testament commentary section of J. Vernon McGee's series.

This is not my first time reading J. Vernon McGee. I've read probably twenty or so of his commentaries. Most recently Philippians and Colossians.

I love, love, love the book of Psalms. McGee does too. We are kindred spirits in that. He has some great things to say about the book of Psalms. "It is the only book which contains every experience of a human being. The Psalms run the psychological gamut. Every thought, every impulse, every emotion that sweeps over the soul is recorded in this book. That is the reason, I suppose, that it always speaks to our hearts and finds a responsive chord wherever we turn." and "The Psalms are full of Christ. There is a more complete picture of Him in the Psalms than in the Gospels. The Gospels tell us that He went to the mountain to pray, but the Psalms give us His prayer. The Gospels tell us that He was crucified, but the Psalms tell us what went on in His own heart during the Crucifixion. The Gospels tell us He went back to heaven, but the Psalms begin where the Gospels leave off and show us Christ seated in heaven." and "Christ is the subject of the Psalms. I think He is the object of praise in every one of them. I will not be able to locate Him in all of them, but that does not mean that He is not in each psalm; it only means that Vernon McGee is limited."

This commentary covers the first division of the book of Psalms.

[Rachel Grepke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is book one of three in a commentary on the book of Psalms. While it holds some good nuggets of truth, I found it somewhat hard to always follow, partly because of the older Bible version quotations and general verbage. A good little read though.