David: Man of Prayer, Man of War, by Walter J Chantry, the Banner of Truth Trust, hardback, 294 pages, £12.50, obtainable from the F P Bookroom.
This book originated as a series of articles in The Banner of Truth Magazine which Mr Chantry, for 39 years minister of a Baptist Church in Pennsylvania, edited from 2002 until 2009. One still remembers the impression made on oneself, when a young minister, by Mr Chantry’s Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic? and the comment of another, now deceased, who rose from a sickbed affirming that Today’s Gospel had transformed his view of preaching. His Signs of the Apostles has been found to be a useful introductory book to give to anyone perplexed by the Pentecostal or Charismatic movements. Mr Chantry’s Baptist position does not come through in his books published by the Trust.
The keynote of this volume is struck in the first and penultimate sentences of the Introduction: “Only the supreme providence of God and the unfathomable depths of divine grace could have conceived and forged the life of David. . . . Those who stumble often, but who always turn with melted hearts to God for pardon and help, will find in him a brother for all situations.” Mr Chantry deals faithfully with the sins of David, in a way which would have pleased a writer in the Free Presbyterian Magazine for September 1896: “We need not scruple to admit that things fell out in the lives of these Old Testament worthies that are painful to think of; but the sacred writers do not elaborate and harp upon the sins of pardoned saints. They are related simply and impartially, and then left to the meditation of the wise in heart. But they do celebrate and set out the riches of the grace that passed over and put away such aggravated offences.”
Each of the 35 self-contained chapters is based on a passage of Scripture recording the history of David. The book is a retelling of the story of David’s life with wide-ranging comments, reflections and applications – sometimes commonplace but often pointed and practical – to the life of the Christian and of the Church today, to ungodly individuals and nations, and to young and old. The method is not so much that of close exposition as of going through the narrative and using points in the passage discussed as the basis of application, occasionally unexpected. The underlying theology is sound and many of the comments are obviously the fruit of long pastoral experience. Regrettably, most Biblical quotations are from The English Standard Version.
(Rev) H M Cartwright
Habakkuk, A Wrestler with God, by Walter J Chantry, the Banner of Truth Trust, paperback, 100 pages, £5.50, obtainable from the F P Bookroom.
Like David: Man of Prayer, Man of War, this book originated as a series of articles in the Banner of Truth Magazine. Regarding Habakkuk as “a book for times of extreme crisis” Mr Chantry concludes from this seventh-century-BC prophecy that not only was the basic human condition the same then as now but also that much that is true of our national and international situation reflects what was the case then. He believes that “in this great book of divine revelation we draw back the curtain over the prayer chamber of a man of God. We listen to him pray. We listen as God responds in one of His remarkable revelations.”
As in the case of the volume on David, this is not a detailed, verse-by-verse commentary on the prophecy, though exegetical work and historical research lie behind it, but is a topical application of points arising from the text. Its origin as a series of articles may account for a measure of repetitiveness. The fact is stressed that the removal of restraint from the sinful corruptions of society can itself be a great judgement from God and the precursor of “more active expressions of wrath”, though at times such a situation may develop in God’s purpose to demonstrate that, when deliverance comes, it is due entirely to His sovereign mercy and grace. The point is also made that often God has used heathen and idolatrous nations as a rod for the backs of those that have known His favour. There are calls to faith in the purposes and promises of God in His Word and an emphasis on the place of prayer. The fear of God is presented as fundamental to our attitude and approaches to the Lord.
An appendix contains extracts from Calvin’s commentary on Lamentations 3:24, commending quietness in adversity.
No particular Bible Version is specified, though the language is not that of the AV and we do find particularly jarring quotations which address God as “You”.
(Rev) H M Cartwright