Leap Over a Wall

A fantastic life-giving work in the middle of an insipid age. This book about David is a book about real and bold living. A great encouragement and a call to live the Kingdom life now... today. One of the most significant books I have ever read, this belongs alongside the Narnia Chronicles and Robinson Crusoe as a standard bearer book for living bold and free in God's realm.

It's easy to mistake good biblical characters for saints - and Eugene Peterson shows, in this book, that we all a lot more that is identifiable with David than we think. It's not impossible to follow God the way David did - and this book shows us how. Fantastic reading and lots to learn from.

Peterson brings a breath of fresh air to a stagnant atmosphere of worn out spiritual cliches. He makes the Bible come alive again,and gives flesh and blood to the names and places that we have heard and read about all of our lives. He forces you out of one dimensional thinking to three dimensional reality. His words get to the real heart of the matter. He words call out to my heart and challenges me to to seek and know God, God who knows me better than I know myself.

This book, detailing and probing the life of King David, has provided many valuable insights into the matter of living in communion with God even as being fully human. Although I was skeptical, I am glad to note that the biblical text was handled with integrity. The author researched the texts that he commented on, and admitted to speculation when doing so. This book is a must-read for anyone who struggles with the matter of living with God even as he or she struggles with being human. Peterson's narrative style also pulls the Davidic story right off the pages! The perspective is refreshing and challenging at the same time.

I don't know about you, but I have really become tired of reading books about Biblical characters that make them all sound like super saints. In Leap Over a Wall, Eugene Petersen turns biography on its head and gives his readers a look at King David that comes much closer to presenting a Biblical look at Old Testament person. David becomes three dimensional in the pages of this book. We see his failings and his victories and we can relate. Petersen's amazing insights into the stories of David's life gives the reader a real sense of hope and encouragement. I wish that every believer would read this!