Acknowledgments

We want to thank Jeremy Howard and his stellar team at B&H for making this book—and this series—a possibility. Thanks to our editor, David Stabnow, for a fantastic job. Jeremy and his team believe in the vision behind this series and have put tremendous energy into making that vision a reality. We are thrilled with the result. Thanks too to the series editors Danny Akin, David Platt, and Tony Merida. Your vision to see a Christ-honoring preaching commentary is salutary and we pray it will serve our Savior and his Church well.

I (J. D.) would like to thank Chris Pappalardo, who is more invaluable to my speaking and writing ministry than I can express. And many, many thanks to the people of The Summit Church, who patiently put up with me as I attempted to work through 1–2 Samuel (and many other books of the Bible) together. They are a very forgiving people. The greatest earthly joy I have is preaching the Word of God to them each week. I would rather preach weekly at the Summit than I would preach anywhere else in the world, no matter how big the crowd. Thank you for, by God’s grace, doing the most important work—believing (John 6:29).

I (Heath) would like to thank J. D. for the privilege of writing this volume with him. It is a joy to serve with my (former) pastor in this way. Serving as a small group leader and elder at the Summit for the years that I was there was a challenge and a real delight. We saw so many lives changed! Although now serving in Oklahoma, I pray God’s continued blessing, anointing, and protection as the Summit reaches a lost world with the light of Jesus Christ. To the congregations at The Summit Church, Duke Memorial Baptist Church (NC), and New Covenant Church (TX), it was an honor to preach and teach through 1–2 Samuel with you. This volume is the fruit of us laboring together to hear the voice of the Lord Christ in and through the Scriptures. My prayer is that this volume will help the future ministers and preachers that we train through the Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry at Oklahoma Baptist University.

J. D. Greear and Heath A. Thomas

Durham, North Carolina, and Shawnee, Oklahoma

Summer 2016