The Goodness of God in the Gift of Scripture: 20 Meditations
by Uche Anizor
DETAILS:
Publisher: Crossway
Publication Date: January 13, 2026
Format: eARC
Length: 224 pg.
Read Date: December 21, 2025
What’s The Goodness of God in the Gift of Scripture About?
This is a brief devotional book—twenty short readings—primarily based on Psalm 119, discussing gifts God communicates through his word.
I really feel like I should have more to say there, but I don’t know how to get into it. The Table of Contents should give you a decent idea of what to expect:
Introduction: Our Good God and the Grace of Scripture
Chapter 1: The Gift of Blessedness
Chapter 2: The Gift of Purity
Chapter 3: The Gift of No Shame
Chapter 4: The Gift of a Wonderful Counselor
Chapter 5: The Gift of Fear
Chapter 6: The Gift of Salvation
Chapter 7: The Gift of Fruitfulness
Chapter 8: The Gift of Warnings
Chapter 9: The Gift of Peace
Chapter 10: The Gift of Understanding
Chapter 11: The Gift of Sight
Chapter 12: The Gift of Nourishment
Chapter 13: The Gift of Strength in Affliction
Chapter 14: The Gift of True Truth
Chapter 15: The Gift of Freedom
Chapter 16: The Gift of Life
Chapter 17: The Gift of Joy
Chapter 18: The Gift of Wisdom
Chapter 19: The Gift of Righteousness
Chapter 20: The Gift of Hope
Epilogue: Opening the Gift
Bonus Material
Anizor ends each chapter with selections (not all the same length) from topically appropriate hymns. I’m unfamiliar with all those he picked, but they seemed to be good choices. There’s a concluding thought on the way to react to the chapter’s material. And there are some prayers for the reader’s use at the end of the book, as well.
Given the nature of the book as a devotional, these are all nice touches and help the project. I do wonder occasionally if those end-of-chapter suggested responses could’ve shown a little more trust for the reader, they seemed a little obvious.
So, what did I think about The Goodness of God in the Gift of Scripture?
My biggest problem with this book is self-inflicted. I didn’t do a thorough enough job of reading the description—the title refers to the “Gift of Scripture” and I focused on that over the part of the description, saying that each reading “focuses on an individual gift that God communicates through his word, such as warnings and wisdom that bring repentance. Readers will explore themes including righteousness, hope, freedom from shame, strength in affliction, and more.” Not that I have a problem with any of that—I absolutely do not. I just went into the book looking for material on the gift of Scripture, not the rest.
The book does an okay job of that frequently, but it’s not the overwhelming theme. It just makes the book feel unfocused. And the lack of focus hurts.
It’s a fine book, I liked the additional material at the end of the chapter and the Epilogue. I just think it could’ve been better—and if it focused on the theme as expressed in the title, I think it would’ve been that much stronger. Still, readers going into it for the right things—looking for what the book really is—will find themselves rewarded.
Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Crossway via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.
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