“Faithful people of God in the postexilic period and beyond took God at His word. They believed the promises: that the Lord was going to come and put all things in right order and that the Son of David was going to come as the agent of this salvation. The Book of Psalms said to the original readers and says to us: ‘He is coming. You cannot see Him with the eyes of flesh, but with the eyes of faith you can see Him on the horizon. Live with hope, because the promise is that the promise stands.’” __Transformed by Praise, p. 152
Pictures are surely worth a thousand words! When I received this picture from Adele Futato, it brought back a flood of memories to us. Mark (Dr. Mark David Futato) was our pastor at Covenant OPC until 1988 when he became Associate Professor of OT at Westminster Seminary West and now Professor of Old Testament and Academic Dean, Orlando at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, Florida. He was instrumental in our spiritual growth in understanding the Old Testament and the Reformed faith and is one of our favorite Bible teachers. One of Mark’s promises when he left the pastorate for teaching was his commitment to write books especially on the Book of Psalms. He has accomplished that and much more. He has written: Joy Comes in the Morning: Psalms for All Seasons (P&R, 2004), Beginning Biblical Hebrew (Eisenbrauns, 2003), Transformed By Praise: The Purpose and Messge of the Psalms (P&R, 2002), Creation: A Witness to the Wonder of God (P&R, 2000) and currently has two books in the process of publication: “Psalms: A Theological Commentary” (Tyndale House Publishers) and “An Exegetical Handbook to the Book of Psalms” (Kregel Publishers). If you have not had the opportunity to read his books, you are missing a spiritual treat indeed. Mark’s books are available at Christian bookstores and Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author-exact=Mark%20David%20Futato&rank=-relevance,+availability,-daterank/103-6494793-7030238Summer 1988
Oh my, get out the hankie!! (and now the boys are putting out fires!)
Time flies by but memories remain, especially those fond memories of our special relationships in the body of Christ. Cherish them as a part of God’s gift to you and if you want to understand the Psalms in a profound, theological and lovely way, read Mark’s books. You will be blessed.
