MHCC: Daily Meditation Readings With Matthew Henry

For those who may be interested in reading Matthew Henry daily in bite-sized pieces, I know of three compilations of daily meditative readings extracted from his Commentary, which may serve as a useful way of reading along in a different format and still participating in the Matthew Henry Commentary Challenge. I own each of these works and have found them to be profitable, so I have noted my briefs reviews of each below to help the reader who may wish to employ one or more of these books for meditation and study.

• Fredna W. Bennett, ed., Moments of Meditation from Matthew Henry: 366 Daily Devotions Gleaned From the Greatest Devotional Commentary of All Time (Zondervan, 1962). I have posted the preface previously here. The daily meditations are loose, modernized abridgments from Henry, which follow the Western ecclesiastical calendar, speaking explicitly and favorably of Christmas on and about December 25, for example, a holiday that Matthew Henry himself did not observe. The Scripture readings come from the KJV, which Henry also utilized, and a Scripture index is included at the back.
  

• Martin Manser, ed., A Closer Walk With God: Daily Readings from Matthew Henry (Daybreak Books, Zondervan, 1987). This is a good compilation of Commentary extracts with a fine preface. The language is modernized, although the Scripture references are derived from the KJV. It does follow the Western ecclesiastical calendar, not with explicit references to Christmas as in Bennett's book, but with a clear effort to incorporate Advent readings in late December. Manser writes: "This compilation of readings has been edited with a view to not only providing a daily source of encouragement and instruction, but also opening up the rich treasury of Matthew Henry's devotional comments to a wider audience. Indeed, some readers might find their appetites whetted and be encouraged to turn to the abridged one-volume version or even the original six-volume edition of the Commentary. This book of daily readings has been compiled with the hope that Matthew Henry's pastoral and practical notes will lead readers to a deeper understanding of the scriptures and so to a closer walk with the living God."

• Toni Sortor, Grant Me Wisdom: Daily Devotional Insights from Matthew Henry: 365 Readings (Barbour Publishing, 2004). This is a faithful, lightly-edited, pocket-size paperback compilation of readings from Henry's Commentary that employs the NKJV for Scripture references and a Scripture index at the back. The introduction says: "Many modern Christians have heard Matthew Henry's name. Some know he wrote a commentary on the Bible. But considerably fewer have actually read his work. Matthew Henry's writings are certainly worth reading, though, and this book, Grant Me Wisdom -- Daily Devotional Insights from Matthew Henry, makes them readily accessible to the modern Christian. Carefully drawn from Henry's massive Commentary on the Whole Bible, this devotional book takes his most practical thoughts and puts them into a one-a-day format for a year's worth of inspiring reading."
  

• Randall J. Pederson, ed., Matthew Henry: Daily Readings (Christian Heritage Publications, 2009). This is a very good, faithful, modernized compilation of extracts from Henry's Commentary, which does not follow the ecclesiastical calendar, but, it should be noted, does employ the ESV for its Scripture readings. It is small, inexpensive, beautifully leather-bound and includes a ribbon bookmark. Pederson writes in the introduction: "It is hoped that this new devotional will serve as a worthy successor in a long string of godly and uplifting material. Drawn from the most popular commentary of all time, these brief and succinct excerpts were chosen to pierce the heart with pointed truths, to instruct, console, motivate towards holiness, and to encourage pilgrims in their long journey home, all the while remembering the busy and chaotic lives people now live. Its small size will be well-suited for travel, suitable for reading on a plane or train; the entries can be read in only a few minutes, perhaps between flights or just prior to bed. Further, it can be used to introduce readers to the Puritans and the profit in reading them. It might also be useful as a companion to Henry's A Method for Prayer."