Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness by Michael Card. IVP Books. 176 pages. 2018 ****
Respected musician, Bible teacher and author Michael Card has been working on this book about hesed for ten years. It is a word that many will not be familiar with, but which he writes that it is tempting to say is the most important word in the Hebrew Scriptures. Though a book that he thought would take one year to write took much longer, he tells us that understanding hesed is actually a lifelong journey, and that none of us will ever get to the end of it in this life.
He first encountered the word hesed while working through the laments of the Old Testament. He describes hesed as being an untranslatable, three-letter, two-syllable word. Early in the book he gives us what he describes as an initial, ever-incomplete working definition of hesed:
When the person from whom I have a right to expect nothing gives me everything.
In this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed, he looks at the word hesed in its immediate context in a number of passages and tries to understand what the meaning was for the author at that particular point in time. He states that a good case can be made for the claim that hesed has the largest range of meaning of any word in the Hebrew language, and perhaps in any language. It occurs nearly 250 times in the Hebrew Bible throughout all of the three major divisions—the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings, with the majority of occurrences (127) in the Psalms. He tells us that the vast range of hesed is also made evident by the staggering number of English words translators employ in their effort to render it (which he details in an appendix). For example, the King James Version of the Bible uses fourteen different words for hesed. He tells us that a single word is rarely enough in a given context to express all that hesed means, so Bible translators are forced to pile on adjectives.
The author tells us that the purpose of this journey is not to become preoccupied with a single word. Instead, he wants us to hesed as a key that can open a door into an entire world—the world of God’s own heart, the world of loving our neighbor and perhaps even our enemies.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review and reviews of
~ The Daring Mission of William Tyndale by Steven J. Lawson
~ With All Due Respect: Defending America with Grit and Grace by Nikki Haley
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ The Gospel According to Jesus by John MacArthur
I’M CURRENTLY READING…. Continue reading →
The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Steven J. Lawson. Reformation TrustPublishing. 154 pages.2016. ****
In the latest edition of the A Long Line of Godly Men Profile series, the author, also the editor of the series and a passionate preacher himself, states that Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was perhaps most responsible for leading a return to expository preaching in the 20th century, and was one of the greatest preachers of any century. He preached at Westminster Chapel in London for 30 years, where 2,000 would gather each Lord’s Day, to hear his more than 4,000 sermons delivered during his time there. Those sermons, both in audio and written formats, continue to have great impact today, more than 36 years after his death.
The author looks at the life and preaching of Lloyd-Jones, known as “the Doctor”, a respected physician turned preacher. In a brief biographical sketch (see Iain Murray’s biographical works for a complete look at the Doctor’s life), the author tells us that Lloyd-Jones was born in 1899. He became a distinguished young physician with a promising career before he was born again at age 25. He then changed careers, and began his new calling as a Calvinist Methodist pastor in South Wales. Remembering how he had believed himself to be a Christian when he was not, he would preach as an evangelist. He preached with logic on fire, never telling jokes or stories in his sermons. He refused to use church growth techniques.
Lloyd-Jones had great influence outside of England. His preaching at Westminster Seminary led to the still influential book Preaching and Preachers. He founded the Banner of Truth Trust, which still publishes excellent books today. Lloyd-Jones had a passion for revival. He retired from Westminster in 1968 when diagnosed with colon cancer. After that, he edited his sermons into book form and spoke more widely. Continue reading →
On a recent trip to Europe we stopped in Geneva for the afternoon and visited St. Peter’s Cathedral (Cathedrale St-Pierre) in the heart of Geneva’s Old Town, where John Calvin served for 25 years. Over the next two days in Paris I read this book, including a wonderful afternoon spent on a bench along the Seine River.
This book was the first in a series that examines the varied ministries of noted men from church history. Lawson states that Calvin “was a driving force so significant that his influence shaped the church and Western culture beyond that of any other theologian or pastor.”
Lawson writes that apart from the biblical authors themselves, Calvin stands today as the most influential minister of the Word of God the world has ever seen. He states that by overwhelming consent, he remains the greatest biblical commentator of all time.
Lawson begins the book with a brief biography of Calvin, whose father, a financial administrator for the Catholic bishop of the Noyon diocese, raised his son to enter the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. When his father died, the 21-year-old Calvin moved back to Paris to pursue his first love, the study of literature, especially the classics. He later returned to Bourges, where he completed his legal studies and received his doctor of laws degree. It was while he was studying at Bourges that Calvin came in direct contact with the biblical truths of the Reformation.
Calvin went to Basel, Switzerland (1534-1536), and began writing his magnum opus, Institutes of the Christian Religion. Calvin’s Institutes would become the defining masterpiece of Protestant theology, according to Lawson the single most important book to be written during the Reformation.
Calvin was first appointed professor of sacred Scripture in Geneva, then, four months later, pastor of Saint Pierre Cathedral. Calvin and Farel immediately began working to reform the church in Geneva. Their attempts to fence the Lord’s Table by excommunication resulted in their banishment from the city in 1538.
Calvin went into exile to Strasbourg where he pastored a congregation of some five hundred French-speaking refugees in Strasbourg. He also taught the New Testament in the local theological institute, wrote his first commentary (on Romans), and published the second edition of the Institutes.
During these years in Strasbourg, Calvin also found a wife, Idelette Stordeur, a member of his congregation. An Anabaptist widow, she had a son and a daughter from her first marriage. They married in 1540, when Calvin was 31. Idelette would die of tuberculosis in 1549.
Meanwhile, the City Council of Geneva found itself in much struggle, and called for Calvin to return as the city’s pastor. Calvin re-entered the city on September 13, 1541, never to relocate again. In Geneva, he made his mark as the Reformed church leader and the Reformation’s brightest light.
Upon his return, Calvin hit the town preaching, reassuming his pulpit ministry precisely where he had left off three years earlier-in the very next verse of his earlier exposition.
The rest of the book has Lawson reviewing the distinctives of Calvin’s preaching. They are:
Biblical authority
Divine Presence
Pulpit priority
Sequential Exposition
Diligent Mind
Devoted heart
Relentless will
Direct beginning
Extemporaneous delivery
Scriptural context
Stated theme
Specific text
Exegetical precision
Literal interpretation
Cross-references
Persuasive reasoning
Reasonable deductions
Familiar words
Vivid expressions
Provocative questions.
Simple Restatements
Limited quotations
Unspoken outline
Seamless transitions
Focused intensity
Pastoral exhortation
Personal examination
Loving rebuke
Polemic confrontation
Succinct summation
Pressing appeal
Climatic prayer
The book concludes with two appendices:
Appendix A: John Calvin’s Verse Distribution for Sermon Series
Appendix B: John Calvin’s Unspoken Outline of Job 21:13-15 Organized by T. H. L. Parker
I have read several of the books in this series of short biographies (Luther, Owen, Whitefield, Spurgeon), and plan to read books on Tyndale, Knox, Watts and Edwards. I enjoyed this look at Calvin’s expository preaching, which will be most appreciated by those who preach the Word.
BOOKS AND OTHER RESOURCES:
Withering and the Word: John Calvin at 500. Kevin DeYoung writes “Whatever lasting impact John Calvin has had on the church of Jesus Christ, and on the whole world for that matter, is owing to his commitment to understanding and explaining the word of God.”
The Greatness of John Calvin. Burk Parsons writes that John Calvin was among the greatest men of all time, stating that his greatness, as B. B. Warfield recognized, was not in his service to himself but in his surrender to God.
Calvinism and the Christian Life. In this new 6-part teaching series from Ligonier Ministries, Pastor Ian Hamilton demonstrates that Calvinism is biblical, God-centered Christianity with important implications for our daily lives. This theology is not simply academic. It is a theology for all of life—a theology in which the grace of Jesus Christ shapes everything.
Living with a Sense of Eternity. Sinclair Ferguson writes “Calvin sought, personally, to develop a balance of contempt for the present life with a deep gratitude for the blessings of God and a love and longing for the heavenly kingdom.
Covenant Seminary Faculty Contribute to new Zondervan Study Bible. Dr. Jay Sklar and Dr. Robert Yarbrough both contributed work for the new Zondervan Study Bible being released next month. Dr. Sklar wrote the study notes for the book of Numbers + an article on sacrifice. Dr. Yarbrough wrote the notes for 1-2 Timothy and Titus.
New Jan Karon Book. The popular author returns with Come Rain or Come Shine (A Mitford Novel) on September 22.
“Watchin’ Over Me” is from James Taylor’s new chart topping album Before This World, his first album of new material since 2002’s October Road. It is one of my favorite songs on the album as Taylor sings of appreciation for those who helped him during his times of drug addiction. Watchin’ over me when I was high Holdin’ my hand and wipin’ my eye Watchin’ me cheat, watchin’ me lie Oh watchin’ over me Lookin’ back over on the damage I done Made no kind of plan to be carryin’ on Thought I might ought to been dead and gone I said oh the damage done
How’m I gonna pay that debt I owe Big red Jesus on the radio Down on my knees after the show I said oh the debt I owe
I learned my lesson again Well, I learned my lesson again Only one way to surrender Learned my lesson again Got to return it to sender Leave a little light in the window Got to remember my friend
Guess I got to say it’s a lovely day Nice enough to know it could ever be so Ready man, steady man, here I’m gonna go I said, oh, the lovely day
Brother. NEEDTOBREATHE recently appeared on Good Morning America to perform their song “Brother” with Gavin DeGraw.
No One Like Our God. Here’s a video of an acoustic version of Matt Redman’s song from Abbey Road.
Uncomfortable. Andy Mineo’s new album Uncomfortable is scheduled to be released September 18. Definitely one of my most anticipated albums of the year.
U2 Short Film “Song for Someone” With Woody Harrelson. Directed by Vincent Haycock, cinematography by Steve Annis and produced by Pete Vitale & Park Pictures, “Song for Someone” features Woody Harrelson as a man being released from prison after years of incarceration and features his daughter Zoe Harrelson. The piece thematically links to RECTIFY, SundanceTV’s Peabody award-winning series that follows the story of Daniel Holden and his family as they struggle to move forward after Daniel’s release from 19 years on death row.
Quotes from Musicians:
There are more animal shelters than there are shelters for women and children who need refuge from abuse. Andy Mineo
No, they did not take his life–he laid it down. And the chains of death could never hope to hold him, so in the night my hope lives on. Andrew Peterson
Worship helps us let the ‘throne set the tone’ for our lives – a declaration and a reminder that Jesus is Lord, and everything is in His hands. Matt Redman
Inexpressible: Hesed and the Mystery of God’s Lovingkindness by Michael Card. IVP Books. 176 pages. 2018
The Passionate Preaching of Martyn Lloyd-Jones by Steven J. Lawson. Reformation Trust Publishing. 154 pages. 2016. 
Dr. Jay Sklar and Dr. Robert Yarbrough both contributed work for the new Zondervan Study Bible being released next month. Dr. Sklar wrote the study notes for the book of Numbers + an article on sacrifice. Dr. Yarbrough wrote the notes for 1-2 Timothy and Titus.
