A Voyage of Discovery

A Voyage of Discovery
John Palmer
John Palmer John Palmer lives in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
30 September, 2011 1 min read

Review of:
A Voyage of Discovery: the Ups and Downs of the Christian Life
Derek W. H. Thomas
Evangelical Press
ISBN 0-85234-742-1
215 pages.

This study on the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134) is a revision of �Making the Most of Your Devotional Life� by the same author. In it Derek Thomas presents a fifteen-day study course through these Psalms. Each chapter encourages the making of notes and concludes with questions. The author�s stated aim is to promote a Biblical view of discipleship. There are, he points out, many forms of spirituality which aim to focus the soul on God: his aim is to provide a distinctively Reformed one; to lift the eyes of weary travellers on the way to the New Jerusalem, to their God.

One would expect in a book by Derek Thomas to come across nothing major to disagree with; and so it proves. The book is easy to read and very helpful, especially the questions. As the chapters are of fairly uniform length, some Psalms are dealt with in more detail than others. As this material was originally preached, this implies a warning to preachers of a series on these Psalms- don�t necessarily make all your sermons the same length!

However, it is not to preachers that the author primarily writes, but to Christians. The less your eyes are fixed on your eternal home, the more you will benefit from this book. Moreover, the book rightly stresses the corporate nature of our worship and fellowship as God�s pilgrim people The more you see salvation as an individual blessing, and neglect the corporate aspect, the more you need to read it. Finally, if you expect that the life of the faithful Christian should be one of untroubled serenity, the message of this book is definitely for you.

John Palmer,
Tredegar

3 stars.

John Palmer
John Palmer lives in Ormskirk, Lancashire.
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