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Book Review: The Songs of Jesus by Timothy and Kathy Keller

The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms: Timothy Keller: 9780525955146 - Christianbook.com

Today, devotionals are one of the essential tools for a Christian looking to grow in their understanding of scripture. Despite this, I have yet to review one, but that changes today. For my first devotional review, I chose the one that I am currently reading. This book was given to me as a parting gift from RUF this past Spring. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this at the break of dawn every morning and I think that you will too. 

Author: Tim Keller (and his wife Kathy) are well known authors to most Christians. His works are constantly being recommended to me by both pastors and readers of this blog. Before I began this devotional, I read countless excerpts from his other works like "The Reason for God" and the "Meaning of Marriage." If you are looking to read any Christian books, Tim Keller is always a good author to start with. 

Theme/Message: This devotional is solely about the Psalms, though Keller often pulls passages from other Books to give context and modern applications for the daily Psalms excerpts. Personally, Psalms has always been a hard book for me to understand due to the cultural disconnect, length and differences from the rest of Scripture (poetry was never my strong suit). However, Keller is able to eliminate all my barriers to reading Psalms efficiently. Psalms has a lot of themes (though the Hebrew label is "Praises" which could be seen as the overarching theme of the entire book: thanks and adoration to God), but Keller is able to capitalize on each of them and contextualize them while giving the reader practical lifestyle application based on the daily passages. 

Presentation/Readability: The presentation of this book could not be any more simple, and that's a good thing. Keller didn't ramble on in paragraph after paragraph. Rather, he lays each devotion out in 3 simple parts: passage, commentary and prayer. Each devotion takes only around 3-5 minutes to read and the guided prayers are helpful if you are someone who struggles with the purpose of prayer or remembering to pray. Even if you don't, the prayers are good reinforcement of the theme and applications of that day's passage and can be used as a template for a morning prayer. 

Verdict: If you are searching for a new devotional or you are tired of the one you are currently reading, I think that "The Songs of Jesus" is a good choice. It is extremely easy to read every day and anything that is written by Tim Keller is going to be enriching. If you haven't read a devotional before, I think you would be hard pressed to find a better starting point. This devotional will deepen your love for Jesus and have you praising God along with the Psalmists. I think that is something every Christian should long for. 

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