Writing in the same series, edited by R.Kent Hughes, Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr. has produced Isaiah: God Saves Sinners (Crossway). Ortlund is Senior Pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. Isaiah, Ortlund explains, “writes with a clear sense of truth. He sees the one true God meaningfully at work in history. He denies all counter-explanations of reality. But this God doesn’t exploit us; He bears our burdens for us. And Isaiah doesn’t just assert that. He reasons with us. In fact, he shows God Himself coming down to persuade us, equipping us with a decisive faith in a world of confusion.”

Preachers will also be interested in Genesis: Expository Thoughts (Evangelical Press) by James Dixon. Dixon combines a study of the text with helpful devotional insights.Dale Ralph Davis has produced 2 Kings: The Power and the Fury (Christian Focus), in which he argues that, even though this biblical book begins“in the middle of things,” it offers tremendous resources for preaching.

Robert W. Jenson, Senior Scholar for Research at the Center of Theological Inquiry at Princeton, has written Song of Songs in the “Interpretation” commentary series (Westminster John Knox Press). “Whatever do you do with the Song of Songs, as a biblical text?,” Jenson asks. He answers his own question witha helpful exposition of this Song and its meaning. Jenson sees this book as “a solicitation of theological allegory,” and he offers very helpful principles about how the book is to be interpreted in order to reveal love, both divine and human.

Two additional volumes in the “Holman Old Testament Commentary” have also been released, both written by Max Anders. (Holman Reference) and ProverbsHosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah offer straightforward interpretation and application of the biblical text. Michael A. Milton offers a constructive approach in The Demands of Discipleship: Expository Messages from Daniel (Wipf and Stock). Milton serves as pastor of Chattanooga’s First Presbyterian Church, and these messages were preached to his historic congregation.

Preachers will find The Message of the New Testament by Mark Dever to be particularly helpful (Crossway). Dever, pastor of the Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., offers a fresh approach in this volume, providing a sermon on each book of the New Testament. Dever’s gift for providing an overview of each book will serve as an excellent example of how the canonical shape of Scripture can inform preaching and the congregation’s understanding of the biblical text. Dever provides a keen lesson in getting at the “big picture” of the biblical story. Worthy commentaries on the New Testament include 2 Peter and Jude by John MacArthur, Jr. (Moody Press). MacArthur, one of the nation’s most influential expositors, is nearing the completion of his great project — a commentary on theentire New Testament text. Preachers will be especially encouraged by the fact that MacArthur’s commentaries grow directly out of his congregational preachingat Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. “This New Testament commentary series reflects this objective of explaining and applying Scripture,” MacArthurexplains. “Some commentaries are primarily linguistic, others are mostly theological, and some are mainly homiletical. This one is basically explanatory, or expository.”