Leap Over a Wall - by Eugene H Peterson (Paperback)

About the Book

Bestselling theologian Eugene Peterson uses vividly told stories from the life of the biblical David to illustrate the everyday truths that bring us closer to God. Friendship, grief, love, sin, and suffering, as well as sanctuary, beauty, and wilderness, are all examined in the context of David's lifelong journey.

Book Synopsis

Eugene Peterson's vibrant, unforgettable exploration of one of the most memorable--and controversial--figures in Scripture: King David.

The David story is the most extensively narrated single story in the Bible, and the Old Testaments reveals him both at his best and his worst. He is known as a shepherd, a psalmist, a fugitive, a war hero, a murderer, and a king whose legacy is marked by victories and moral failings alike. Peterson's multi-dimensional portrait of this "man after God's own heart" studies David's humanity and examines his key relationships such as those with Saul, Goliath, Jonathan, Bathsheba, and Absolom. Uncompromisingly honest and remarkably insightful, Leap Over a Wall offers the hope that every event in David's life was a confrontation with God, just as our every experience can hold divine encounter.

A vision brought to life by one of the world's most respected and influential theologians, the author of The Pastor, The Jesus Way, Practice Resurrection, and The Message, Leap Over a Wall is a unique opportunity to reconnect with David, a man simultaneously admirable, soulful, and dark, and one of the most complex and vital characters of the greatest story ever written.

Ideal for personal devotional use, Bible study, or small group study.

From the Back Cover

Of all the characters in the Bible, it is David who is most human. His life is lived on the "rough-edged actuality" of real life, and his relationship with God is an energetic one. Through the passions, the trials, and the lyrical poetry of this beloved figure, we gain powerful insights into the role of God in our own lives.

In this inspirational volume, Professor Eugene H. Peterson, translator of The Message, uses stories from David's epic life as vivid lessons in everyday faith and spirituality. Exploring David's experiences of friendship, grief, love, sin, and suffering, as well as sanctuary, beauty, and wilderness, he reawakens us to the enduring truths behind these beloved stories.

Review Quotes

"This retelling and reflection on the life of David, the most completely portrayed character in the Bible . . . depicts an epic figure with the foibles of modern men and women. . . . This everyman analysis brings new life to the stories." - Washington Post
"Eugene H. Peterson skillfully uses the David story to talk not about David, but about you and me. Leap Over A Wall is the human story in all its wonder and terror and pity." - Richard J. Foster, author of Celebration of Discipline
"David, vaulter of walls, troop-crusher, flawed and passionate poet, never fails to capture the Christian imagination because of his whole-hearted lust for God. Now, Eugene Peterson examines this shepherd-king through the magnifying lenses of the people and events in his life and suggests new and powerful possibilities for the divine-human link in our own time and culture" - Luci Shaw, author of God in the Dark
"Leap Over A Wall brings King David's life so close to us, each event a devotional experience, each application an experience that walks us step by step to David's God and ours." - Walter Wangerin Jr., author of Reliving the Passion
"The author brings the Old Testament world revealingly close to our own century, and he makes vivid the notion that God's purposes are worked out in the ordinariness of specific human lives." - Publishers Weekly