Recently I had another birthday and some friends gave me DeYoung’s Taking God as His Word as a present. I devoured the slim volume. There were several reasons why.

For one, the small book is rich with gems regarding the literariness of the Bible, especially the Psams. The Bible reveals the historical and narrative true story of what God has done to redeem a people for himself. It tells the story of creation, redemption, fall, and restoration. It is the grand narrative that tells the story of why the world is the way it is, why people are the way we are, what God has done to redeem a remnant of people, and of how all humanity will answer to God in Christ.

Second, DeYoung’s volume stresses the fact that the Bible is the standard of truth, because it is authored by the unchanging holy God himself. Those who long for truth, therefore, will long for the 66 books of sacred Scripture, because God is the God of truth.

Third, the book focuses on the sufficiency and authority of Scripture. I appreciated this quote from chapter 2:

You do not need another special revelation from God outside the Bible. You can listen to the voice of God every day. Christ still speaks, because the Spirit has already spoken. If you want to hear from God, go to the book that records only what he has said. Immerse yourself in the word of God. You will not find anything more sure (p. 42).

*A sincere thank you to our friends for this volume. It focused my attention where it should be, and reminds me of the good ways God continually brings joys into my life–through friendship, through books, and through the Author of life and his gospel. I do not think I will read Psalm 119 the same way again, thanks to this volume.