The Treasury of David by Spurgeon

JT (alabama24)
JT (alabama24) MVP Posts: 36,523
edited November 2024 in English Forum

In seminary I heard someone recommend The Treasury of David by Spurgeon. For those of you who have it, I was wondering your thoughts. Do you use it? Would you recommend it?

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Comments

  • Brother Mark
    Brother Mark Member Posts: 945 ✭✭

    i've owned it in hardcopy for years.  Spurgeon's style here is more devotional than commentary (just my humble opinion), or, viewed from another perspective:  it takes him forever to come to the point.... but in the meanwhile, you'll be charmed dna blessed by his worshipful treatment of the text.  In effect, he preaches through the Psalms; and, although its all good stuff, its not a quick or handy reference if you're looking for concise commentary material.

     

    "I read dead people..."

  • Jerry M
    Jerry M Member Posts: 1,680 ✭✭✭

    You could try it online at spurgeon.org and if you like it, buy it.  I don't own it but it was and is considered a masterpiece.

    "For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power"      Wiki Table of Contents

  • Paul N
    Paul N Member Posts: 2,087 ✭✭✭

    Spurgeon's style here is more devotional than commentary

    I agree with Mark here,  Its great if you plan on going through the Psalms alone or in an accountability group/small group/ Sunday School, but I'm not sure if you would continue to reference it in a preaching series on Psalms as structural sermon material.  Not to say it shouldn't be read it in preparation for preaching/teaching in Psalms or enjoying Psalms in general.

  • Nord Zootman
    Nord Zootman Member Posts: 597 ✭✭

    I agree with Mark's comments. I have it in hardback, and Spurgeon can be enjoyable to read, but if you are looking for a concise analysis of the text, you won't find it here.

  • alabama24 said:

    Do you use it? Would you recommend it?

    When want to dig into Psalms, The Treasury of David is worthwhile; has explanatory notes and quaint sayings along with hints to preachers.

    Thankful for Charles Spurgeon Collection (86 vols.)

    Keep Smiling [:)]

  • Jacob Hantla
    Jacob Hantla MVP Posts: 3,874

    I have it and love it. It is very devotional, but he does a good job of dealing with the meaning of the Psalm as well. One of my favorite features is how he pulls together good quotes from authors we've never heard of commenting on the Psalms as well. 

    Jacob Hantla
    Pastor/Elder, Grace Bible Church
    gbcaz.org

  • Mike Childs
    Mike Childs Member Posts: 3,134 ✭✭✭

    Obviously, it is not a critical commentary.  It is devotional in nature.  It is much like his sermons.

    But it is extremely valuable and insightful in my opinion.  I am biased as Spurgeon is my favorite preacher.  It is great for sermon preparation in my opinion.  Spurgeon has many helpful insights.

    If you love Spurgeon's sermons you will love this.  If you don't enjoy Spurgeon's sermons, you won't like this either.


    "In all cases, the Church is to be judged by the Scripture, not the Scripture by the Church," John Wesley

  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle MVP Posts: 33,187

    I bought this yesterday and have just read through his thoughts on Psalm 1 and found them very helpful and insightful.

    Not a statistically valid sample of the entire work but I thought I would share this!

    Graham

  • mab
    mab Member Posts: 3,071 ✭✭✭

    Devotional commentaries have their place. This is one of the better ones and very suitable to the Psalms which seem to be a devotional all their own.

    The mind of man is the mill of God, not to grind chaff, but wheat. Thomas Manton | Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow. Richard Baxter

  • Ron Corbett
    Ron Corbett Member Posts: 860 ✭✭✭

    My feeling is that if you love the Psalms, you will benefit from this.

    I also find treasures in AF Kirkpatrick, The Book of Psalms  in the Cambridge Bible for Schools and College Collection.

  • Jack Caviness
    Jack Caviness MVP Posts: 13,599

    The two volume commentary on Psalms in the Crossway Classic Commentaries series are a condensed version of Treasury of David

    Here is what J I Packer wrote in the introduction to these two volumes

    [quote]Spurgeon wrote 135 books and edited twenty-eight more; so the firm had much to cope with. Spurgeon’s supreme literary contribution was his seven-volume, 3,000-page exposition of the Psalms, titled The Treasury of David, put together over twenty-one years and published between 1869 and 1883. It has been constantly in print from Spurgeon’s day to our own, and is here abridged into two volumes to give it a new lease on life.

     Not sure how much was deleted to condense the work down to two volumes, probably a lot of material is missing from the original.