Spiritual sunshine

MICAH
An EP Study Commentary
By Dale Ralph Davis
Evangelical Press. 189 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978-0-85234-717-1

This came with me for my daily devotions when we took a holiday this last summer on the sun drenched island of Corfu. It proved to be a marvellous source of spiritual sunshine for my soul.

Dale Ralph Davis is best known for his excellent commentaries on the historical books of the Old Testament from Judges to 2 Kings. Though the style of the EP study series is a little more academic, his foray into the Minor Prophets with this commentary on Micah keeps up this very high standard.

He divides the book into three sections each about judgment and hope. He addresses the technicalities of the text and the arguments of liberal scholars with clarity and with utter faithfulness to the Bible’s integrity. He provides his own translation of the Hebrew in which he often seeks to capture the ironic word-play of the original. The application sections are apt and full of helpful illustrations. Readers will feel they are in the grip of a safe pair of exegetical hands rightly dividing the word of truth and leading us to Christ. Pastors will see sermon structures simply falling out of the pages. And with all this the writer has lost none of his wit or memorable turns of phrase which so many of us have come to love. It is a superb little hardback.

If there were a criticism it would be that Davis makes a couple of eschatological extrapolations from the text which do not seem to tie up very well. But hey — whose eschatology does tie up completely? If you are looking to get deep into God’s word and thereby be spiritually warmed and refreshed then look no further.