ESV Scripture Journal: Psalms (Artwork by Ruth Chou Simons) (Paperback) Paperback – February 6, 2025

This 5-star rating is based on this Psalms journal's use as a gift or as for marking special insights or "memorial stones" to God's faithfulness. I would not recommend this flat-sided version for daily Bible study use unless you are someone who does not write much or at all in her Bible. The artwork is lovely; the paper is sturdy; gold gilding on the side of the pages would put this over the top. But even without that, it would make a beautiful gift.As others have noted, the flat-sided journal does not lie flat like a spiral-sided version would, but then ... this is a copy of the book of Psalms with extra paper in between, so that is pretty much to be expected. The real drawback for me with this flat-sided journal is the layout and space allowed to write -- which is what this journal is supposed to be used for. There's just not enough room with one page and sometimes multiple Psalms on the opposite side. I also got the spiral version, hoping to use that one as a daily Psalm-specific companion to my regular journal and notebooks. This version was to be for whatever God wants to say next year. After testing it out, however, it seems that for me (a prolific Bible margin writer and copious note taker, especially when God is speaking something specific to my heart or situation) and others like me, this version should be reserved for recording "special" moments transferred from regular sermon and study notebooks and reflection journals. Bottom line: Great for gifting, but not for everyone's daily use.

I ordered the ESV Scripture Journal: Psalms to use while studying the book of Psalms. Studying books of the Bible have been more enjoyable and have proven more successful for me with the use of these journals. This is my second journal I have ordered from this company and have also received two others as gifts. This is a thick journal due to the book of Psalms being so long. Considering the size of this journal, I would think it would be more durable as a hard cover versus the paperback style this journal has been manufactured in. I also feel the pages are much thinner and more transparent as the print on one side is noticeable on the other. I will need to be selective with the writing utensil I choose to journal with. Overall this is a very nice journal with additional artwork on the cover. I would recommend the ESV Scripture Journal: Psalms as it is a nice addition to my new collection of Journaling Books of the Bible and affordably priced.

My purpose isn't really to review the book of Psalms or the ESV translation (although I'd heartily give each five stars!) as much as to assess the specific format of this scripture journal. I find scripture journals to be useful for a variety of reasons, whether you want to take notes along with the text during a specific study or sermon series, or if you're preparing to teach through a book yourself and want to take notes, underline and highlight etc. Each page of text is faced by one lined blank page. This traditional paperback binding has its pros and cons compared to the spiral binding that's also available. This one doesn't lay quite as flat when opened on a desk or table, but it takes up less space on a shelf or in a bag and looks nicer on a shelf. (The journals themselves are the same size, but spiral binding takes up extra room.) Do take into consideration that Psalms is going to be a lot thicker than most other Bible books due to its length; this scripture journal is as thick or thicker than many Bibles!Finally, the cover art by Ruth Chou Simons take a very useful tool and makes it beautiful! The insides are identical (as far as I can tell) to the similar Psalms ESV Scripture Journal with a black cover. It would be hard for any one cover to reflect the wide variety of moods of all the various psalms, but this one is a lovely complement. The back cover looks just like the front, except that it doesn't have the title.

Beautiful. Wonderful front. Great paper quality. A little difficult to use when you are in the center of the book, a spiral bound would have been easier for writing, but the traditional binding is better for traveling for durability.

This is a beautiful! It has the whole book of Psalms, with an entire journaling page between each scripture page, which is plenty of room for writing notes or doodling. The artwork on the cover is lovely and well done. The cover itself is just a thick canvas-like paperback. It is ESV version. The book is about the size of my whole Bible, while the Psalms is usually a pretty small part of the Bible. So this tells you how the quality of the pages are thicker, with less possibility of ink bleeding through like in a regular thin-paged Bible; also that the type font is larger and easier to read. I like how this allows you to focus on one entire book of the Bible at a time. I am very happy with this book, it would make a lovely gift!