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Safe and Sound

Book Review

Safe and Sound by David Powlison engages, equips, and gives Spirit-filled teaching on spiritual warfare.

Dec 5, 2019

In his final book, David Powlison left the church a gem in Safe and Sound: Standing Firm in Spiritual Battles. Instead of positioning Christians in a posture of defense, Powlison interweaves personal stories and scriptural truths to demonstrate that we are uniquely equipped to “stand up to the powers of darkness—for yourself, for your loved ones, for those you counsel” (1). In this, the author reminds us that the spiritual realities of darkness are manifested in the world around us, inherently expressed in our flesh, and demonstrated through the father of lies, Satan (page 7). 

Safe and Sound is divided into two parts. The first three chapters focus on developing a biblical understanding of spiritual warfare. In his typical winsome and engaging way, Powlison exegetes Scripture (e.g. Ephesians 6:10-20) in such a way as to highlight the vital importance of spiritual weaponry and equipment, and how these truths intersect with the mundane of the everyday (page 12). A strength of this section is that Powlison helps the reader navigate between two extremes. As he puts it, “Some Christians envision spiritual warfare as a scary movie with ghosts and bizarre special effects. Others don’t envision the battle we are in at all” (page 18). Regardless of which end of the spectrum someone may lie, Powlison consistently put the focus where it belongs, onto the Lord. He depicts the Lord as the one who takes initiative and guides us to a posture of offense and not merely defense (page 23). 

David’s vulnerable and pastoral tone and approach in this, his last book, engages, equips, and provides Spirit-filled teaching on a subject that is vitally important and should not be ignored by the faithful counselor. Click To Tweet

The second half of the book provides various counseling realities of spiritual warfare. In an engaging and illustrative way, Powlison uses various case studies to help highlight and explain the biblical truth regarding this topic. Whether it be spiritual warfare in the context of fighting “normal” battles including anger, fear, or escapism or in contexts that feel more “supernatural” including occultism or animism, the message remains that Jesus Christ should be the center focus of our prayers and approaches (page 62). 

In this concise volume, readers are introduced to David Powlison at his best. In Safe and Sound, he is relational, conversational, instructive, and comforting all at the same time. He provides clarity through biblical directive in an area of ministry that seems mysterious, strange, or even frightening to many of us. Anyone looking to learn more about spiritual warfare from a common sense and biblical perspective would do well to read this book. David’s vulnerable and pastoral tone and approach in this, his last book, engages, equips, and provides Spirit-filled teaching on a subject that is vitally important and should not be ignored by the faithful counselor.  

Helpful Quotes

  1. “Your aim as a Christian pastor, counselor, and friend is to protect children of light (Ephesians 5:8) from being wooed back into darkness and to woo the rest of mankind (Ephesians 2:3) out of darkness and into the light” (page 13).
  2. “At the very core of Ephesians is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and it is this revelation that holds everything together” (page 27).
  3. “We should be speaking truth from God’s Word into the lives of counselees—sometimes with direct quotes, sometimes with a paraphrase of Scripture, but always taking care to wrap their struggles in the Word of God and in the belt of truth that is Jesus Christ” (page 35).
  4. “My friend normalized the abnormal and humanized the bizarre, seeking to get behind confusing appearances, seeking to minister” (page 71).
  5. “I remember Jesus on the cross, facing death, yet still fully engaged with life—caring for his mother, speaking words of life to the thief next to him—and I can stay engaged too” (page 81).