October 2, 2026
With fascinating perception and cogent composition Dr. Steve R. Parr, in his new book, Giants, Kings, and Psalms, has succeeded in weaving together into a beautiful tapestry of truth, the tests, trials and triumphs of King David. The book is doing well and last week was number one for Christian Biography New Releases in Amazon’s Kindle category.
The 424-page book published by Westbow Press highlights the exceedingly great joys of the shepherd boy who became the king of Israel, but it certainly does not omit the dark days of David’s pain resulting from his dreadful days of debilitating sin.
The author beautifully and systematically ties the events of David’s life with the Psalms that the shepherd/king wrote. The approach Parr has taken to unveil the life of David by matching the Psalms chronologically with his life experiences is like adding technicolor to an old and treasured black and white film like “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Parr’s characterization of the great psalmist of the Old Testament sharpens the events of his life, brings the reality of his experiences into focus, and deepens the emotional impact of the reader as he/she delves into the greatest joys and deepest sorrows of King David’s life.
The idea of the book was birthed when Parr, executive director of missions for the Gwinnett Metro Baptist Network, was serving a church as interim pastor. He decided to do something to generate interest and to inspire a strong summer attendance, and he preached through the whole Bible from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend.
Parr explained, “Obviously, I could not preach every text or even every book, so I preached through the Bible thematically from Genesis to Revelation. I preached through the Old Testament for eight weeks and the New Testament for five weeks. I walked the congregation through the Bible chronologically showing where each book fits into the historical narrative.
“For example,” Parr continued, “Job fits historically in the books of Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers; and Deuteronomy fits into Exodus, etc. This may not be clear to someone who does not understand that the Bible is organized by genre. While preaching through the Bible that summer I became interested in preaching through the life of Israel’s King David in a thirteen-week series. That later led to my desire to organize the Psalms in context to the events of David’s life, with particular attention given to when he wrote each Psalm. The book, Giants, Kings, and Psalms, was birthed out of that journey.”
Parr’s book methodically and marvelously organizes the scripture so that the reader can enjoy both the Psalms as well as King David’s life in a seamless narrative that is user-friendly. The author explained, “I am more of the organizer than the author. Everyone seems to have a favorite Psalm and people know the core events of King David’s life, but they have rarely connected the Psalms to the historical context in which they were written. This gives more clarity to both the Psalms and David’s life.
“In addition, there is more to David’s life than Goliath, Bathsheba, and Absalom’s rebellion. As an example, readers will be fascinated to learn of Goliath’s brothers in the chapter entitled ‘Every Giant has a brother.’”
Interestingly, the book can be read as a novel, as devotional material or used in a Bible study. There is a questions-based, interactive Bible study feature that has a 26-week and a 13-week format that would be helpful for individual or group studies.
The author’s primary objective in writing Giants, Kings and Psalms is to inspire the reader to develop a deeper love and a clearer understanding of scripture, as well as a growing love for God.
Many Georgia Baptists know Dr. Parr through his service with the Georgia Baptist Mission Board and his impactful ministry of forty-plus years. He has been a blessing and a source of help and inspiration to thousands of church leaders across the years. He is a best-selling author and was featured on the twentieth anniversary of the Billy Graham School of Evangelism of Southern Seminary as one of twenty alumni making a Great Commission impact around the world.
Giants, Kings, and Psalms is available at preferred booksellers or steveparr.net
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