Matthew Henry's Commentary on Joel, Amos and Obadiah

As the first among the best in terms of usefulness, we are obliged to mention the one whose name is already a household word: MATTHEW HENRY. He is supremely pious and concise, solid and sensible, suggestive and sober, succinct and trustworthy. You will find that he shines with metaphors, is rich in analogies, overflowing with illustrations, and abounds in reflections. He delights in appositions and alliterations, but his style is generally simple, evocative, and full of content. He grasps the meaning of the text directly and offers the result of a meticulous critical knowledge of the originals on par with the best critics of his time. He is profoundly spiritual, heavenly, and beneficial, finding the content of each text and drawing enormously practical and accurate lessons from all of them. His is a type of commentary that should be placed where I saw it in the old meeting house in Chester: chained in the lobby so that anyone could read it. It is the commentary for the common man, the Christian's old companion, suitable for anyone, instructive for all.

Every pastor should read Matthew Henry completely and carefully at least once. I recommend doing so in the twelve months after finishing seminary. Start at the beginning, and resolve to travel through the land from Dan to Beersheba. You will acquire a huge supply for your sermons if you read it with a notebook at hand; thoughts will flutter around you like twittering swallows around a rooftop at the approach of autumn. If you publicly expound on the chapter you have been reading, your congregation will be amazed by the novelty of your observations and the depth of your thoughts, and then you can tell them what a great treasure Henry is.                                                      

C.H. Spurgeon