GPS-23 by Johnny A. Palmer, Jr.

GPS-23 by Johnny A. Palmer, Jr.GPS-23 by Johnny A. Palmer, Jr. stands for God’s Pathway for Survival Psalm 23. Johnny Palmer, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Bentonville, Arkansas provides sound interpretation of each verse in this important psalm. The book was published by Redemption Press and the foreword was written by Sam Moore. Palmer has written this with a purpose in mind: to help guide the reader through this psalm – which he says is a guide for all Christians.

This pastor grew up using alliteration to highlight the points of his sermons. Each chapters starts with P. Palmer’s translation of the psalm is alliterated with words that start with P. Perhaps it is because his last name starts with that letter. While it is amusing, it is no substitute for good writing. Unfortunately, this book reads more like a series of sermons preached. This distracts the reader from understanding the book as the survival guide it is intended to be. Despite this limitation, the book would be a great resource for pastors who plan to preach a series on Psalm 23. The chapters read like a series of sermons and it is filed with great stories, illustrations and quotes.

Another great feature of this book is that each chapter begins with a different translation of Psalm 23. It was refreshing to read this important psalm in a variety of ways. Palmer does a great job at exposition of the passage. I especially liked the idea of using MR. PALMER (which is the author’s last name) as an acronym to remind himself of the costs of sin (116).

There are many books on Psalm 23. This book contains series of sermonized chapters that will help any Christian in their walk with God. In the midst of this book, a plan for salvation is clearly presented (43-54). The book uses extensive footnotes so that the reader can find the sources of illustrations Palmer uses. I found that this book could be a helpful read for Christians and especially pastors.

This book is part of the Spiritual Survival Man Series. He blogs at Struggling Thru Scriptures.