Eugene Peterson (November 6, 1932–October 22, 2018), a pilgrim on a single path
Revisit his masterpiece that has stayed with us!

The author, a pastor to pastors and an outstanding spiritual writer, allows us to dive into the story of David through detailed biblical interpretation and rich literary imagination.
This is a classic of our time, leading countless readers into a world of spirituality rooted in reality through the fun of storytelling and deep meditation based on the Bible.


Eugene Peterson's masterpiece, "David: A Spirituality Rooted in Reality," demonstrates his exceptional ability to interpret spirituality in contemporary language and narrative.
Written for Christians who seek the integration of life and faith and who wish to walk with God while learning about the spirituality of daily life, this book shows David as a person who faced God in the midst of life, and it comforts and warmly encourages us who are in similar predicaments.
We hear living testimony that clearly demonstrates that fellowship with God is possible in everyday life.
It is filled with the author's will to correct the distorted beliefs that seek to escape from everyday life.

“Why David of all people? Of the many possible reasons, the most prominent is David’s worldliness.
He is so strikingly human.
David who fights, prays, loves, and sins; David who is constrained by the morals and customs of a barbaric Iron Age culture; David who has eight wives; David who is angry; David who is wayward; David who is kind; David who dances.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that God cannot or will not use to bring salvation and holiness into our lives.
If we are to gain the most from the story of Jesus, we must first immerse our imagination in the story of David.” “Life is a realization of details that are all organically, personally, and concretely connected.
Names and fingerprints, street names and local weather, how much to eat for dinner, flat tires in the rain—these are the things that make up life.
God did not reveal himself through metaphysical discourse or grandiose expressions.
Rather, He reveals Himself through the same stories we use to tell our children who they are and how they should grow as human beings, and to tell our friends who we are and what it feels like to live as human beings.” “To enter the story of David is to immerse oneself in a reality that encompasses the entire realm of human beings, from the deepest recesses of the human soul to the highest reaches of the human imagination.
“There is no other biblical story that shows us to such an extent the many dimensions of height, depth, breadth, and length of experience that a human being has as a living being before God.” _ 1.
Story: David and Jesus (1 Samuel 16-1 Kings 2)

“Most people who have taken on the adventure of faith are laymen.
But it is a mystery why laypeople insist on being under the control of only certified experts (clergy) when it comes to matters of faith.
Whenever I encounter people who blindly follow my guidance as a pastor, I am amazed and disappointed.
These Christians are clearly 'new creations in Christ' and have within them that universal characteristic of those who have just been born again: a longing to taste and know for themselves the goodness of the Lord.
But where on earth did they get such a self-deprecating understanding of themselves? Certainly not from the Bible or the Gospel.
They gain such self-understanding directly from their culture (whether secular or church culture).
They are intimidated by the grandiose boasts of leaders who are attached to their privileges and power as experts, and they give up the glory they deserve as new creations in Christ, becoming mere pitiful consumers.
Consumers are merely passive beings.
“They sit passively and silently in church pews and in front of television screens, becoming the objects of all kinds of exploitation and ridicule, both religious and worldly.” _ 2.
Name: David and Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-13)

“Now, 25 years later, as a pastor, I find myself dealing with people who don’t know how to behave when they enter a place of worship.
They enter the chapel leaving behind at least 50 percent of the vocabulary they use in the outside world.
They use a completely different vocabulary.
They are a little nervous too.
Of course, not everyone is like that.
But seeing so many people like that, I realized that it was my job to preach the Word of God to them in the language they used in their work.
If I spoke to them only in "church terms," ​​how could they truly hear and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ? If they were only exposed to the atmosphere of stained glass and organ accompaniment, how could they truly experience the manger in Bethlehem, the fishing boats of Galilee, Peter's cursing, and Mary's tears? Not to mention the cross on Golgotha.
The business deal that sent your adrenaline soaring on Tuesday, the disgust you felt on Wednesday when you discovered your spouse had betrayed you, the boredom of a Friday afternoon.
How could they possibly understand that Christ uses these very things as materials for His work of salvation? If they consider the chapel to be the primary place where they hear and understand God's word?
Of course, a chapel is absolutely necessary.
But the chapel is not the primary place where we grow and practice our spirituality, the life of Christ that the Holy Spirit forms in us every day.” _ 3.
Day: David and Saul (1 Samuel 16:14-23)

--- From the text