I was 28 or 29 when I first memorized and prayed these verses. And through many seasons of suffering since then, I have come back to them again and again.

Owners can bet on their own horses. Athletes can feel confident about their own strength. Leaders can assume past successes guarantee future fortune. Solomon has a warning for all of them.

Paul said of his readers that because of their faith in Jesus, the gospel was being proclaimed throughout the world. I know this is true of my readers, too.

When we think of how we typically introduce ourselves, we’re struck by how Paul described himself to those he was writing.

The transformation of our lives is a long, slow arc of change, and we must be diligent to allow God’s work of transformation to continue. We want to end our lives like the transformed Paul.

Eddie walked into a place God had prepared for him. And he was reunited with many he loved and thousands more he never knew he had influenced for good and for God.

We can learn many things from David. Three practical, helpful lessons are all together in Psalm 3.

Eddie knew the Lord, and as a man of faith who spent his whole career in Christian higher education, he no doubt had read and prayed this passage many times in seasons of difficulty.

He wept and repented when he realized he and his people had been ignoring God’s Word. It’s an example for us as we consider the copies of Scripture we own.

The apostle Paul gives us a profound picture of a life transformed. Even a brief look provides a challenging example for every believer.

We get to choose whom we will listen to and from whom we receive advice and counsel for our lives. But Psalm 1 narrows our choices into two options.

“Gracious words are like honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

“With my voice I cry out to the Lord. . . . With my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. . . . I pour out my complaint before him.”

Maybe it’s time for each of us to assess our willingness to understand that our freedom in Christ should not result in constant expressions of everything we dislike or disagree with.

The psalmist tells us God was preserving his life even as he walked through troubles. And he shows us how we can do the same.

We tend to want what we want, when we want it. But those who discover God’s wisdom also learn to wait for him to act according to his ultimate purposes.

When we walk in unity with God’s purposes and are led by the Holy Spirit, we know God is with us and around us and will not allow anyone intent on disrupting God’s purposes to defeat them.

“All is well.” That’s what she said. Was she in shock? In denial?=And how and where do we find the boldness, the faith to say “all is well” when what we can see does not appear to be good at all?

There will always be benefit to us when we worship, but our worship is not about us. And we are never alone.

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” No one disagrees with that, so why must we hold on to so many disagreements about so much else?