As we’ve just started our 2025 reading plan, beginning with Book 1 of the Psalms, here’s a timely word, courtesy of NavPress.

Here are ten reasons why it’s good to sing from the Psalms when you are alone before the Lord:

1. It’s good because the Bible says it’s “good to sing praises to our God” (Psalm 147:1).
2. It’s good because it helps you to “sing to Him a new song,” which the Bible commands in verses such as Psalm 33:3 (see also Psalm 96:1; 98:1; 149:1).
3. It’s good because the Bible says to sing “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16).
4. It’s good because it nourishes your soul as only the words God inspired for us to sing can do.
5. It’s good because it expresses to the Lord what’s in your heart in a divinely appointed way.
6. It’s good because singing God’s Word reinforces His truth in your heart and mind.
7. It’s good because along with your mind it involves your body and soul, making for a more whole-person worship of God.
8. It’s good because you learn to express yourself biblically.
9. It’s good because it’s enlivening to your soul to sing words that are “living and powerful” (Hebrews 4:12).
10. It’s good because you unite with what the people of God throughout the world have sung for thousands of years.

It really is “good to sing praises to our God.” Enjoy the goodness.

But, Bob, I don’t know the tunes! Fret not: https://psalms.seedbed.com/

For example, here’s the beginning of today’s psalm, Psalm 7, which can be sung to the tune of “God of Our Fathers.”

1 O Lord, my God, in You I refuge take;
Save me from those who would pursue my life.
2 Like a strong lion they would tear and shake,
Leaving no help in all my painful strife. (https://psalms.seedbed.com/psalm-7/)

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. (Psalm 100.1, 2, NKJV)

Good morning! It’s January 6th, the 12th day of Christmas, the commemoration of the visit of the wise men, and I’m reprising what I wrote first in 2023…

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” …[after Herod told them to go to Bethlehem as prophesied by Micah], they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2.1, 2, 9 – 11, ESV)

Here’s a brief summary of what we know and don’t know:

• We don’t know there were three. The text mentions three kinds of gifts. The gifts, by the way, could have been used to fund Mary, Joseph, and Jesus’ trip to Egypt.
• We do know the wise men were NOT at the manger. Jesus is referred to as a “child,” and the place they visited him was a “house.”
• We don’t know exactly what the star was: a comet, a conjunction of planets, or some other phenomenon.
• We can presume that these “wise men” were descendants of men who were contemporaries of Daniel in Babylon. (See, for example, Daniel 2.17, 18)

So many lessons!

• Jesus was visited by shepherds (the uneducated poor) and wise men (the educated wealthy)
• We can say that…
  • The wise men at the beginning of the story were inspired (by the star) but not informed (by scripture)
  • The Jerusalem religious leaders and scholars were informed but not inspired. I have written about this before.
  • Finally, the wise men were informed AND inspired, and they worshiped.

I leave you with the song that nicely captures this beautiful verse – well worth the three minutes. (Update: you may have to poke around to find the song. The link sometimes goes to some long ads first.)

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. (Matthew 2.10, NKJV)

P.S. We live in Monument, Colorado, and a smaller town just to our northwest is Palmer Lake. In 1935, the town laid out the Palmer Lake Star on a small mountain as a symbol of hope in the middle of the depression. One can see it from I-25 driving north from Colorado Springs and from many other places, too. Every year it’s on from Saturday after Thanksgiving through December. On Christmas Evening, 2022, we had a glorious sunset. Loralyn Kokes posted this picture on NextDoor:

Today, January 5, 2025, marks the end of six years of daily blogging which began on January 6, 2019. By God’s grace, as of today, I’ve published 2,197 blogs on 2,192 consecutive days. How? One day at a time!

There’s a lesson there: no matter what we have in front of us, we can get through it…one day at a time. If you had asked me back in 2019, “Bob, do you have ideas for even one year of blogs? 365 ideas?” The answer would have been, no. But the ideas come a day at a time, a blog at a time.

June’s injury from December 7 will require three months to heal completely. There are times when June thinks, “I can’t live like this for (as of this writing) 8 more weeks!” But she can, and she will…one day at a time.

When I first starting daily blogging, a friend said, “Wow. There will be a book in there before long!” And there is: That’s Not Church! And Other Essays about Disciplemaking in the Local Church, available on Amazon.

The book contains 65 essays, some of which combine two or more blogs. The book is designed to be read by busy pastors who may not have time to read a 300-page book on making disciples in the local church, but they might read an essay or two, and each essay will give them “a nugget.”

The essays are grouped into five sections:

• Mission: what is the mission of the local church?

• Messenger: what is the role of the pastor?

• Message: what message should the church be communicating to its members?

• Methods: how can the church communicate its message and carry out its mission?

• Measurement: what should we be counting?

Back to the Ewellogy and the daily blogs… Thank you for reading. And I don’t even know who some of you are! If you don’t want to comment on the blog site, you can write me a note anytime at bob@ewell.com.

Write what you see in a book… Write therefore the things that you have seen… (Revelation 1.11, 19, ESV)

I memorized Ephesians 4.26 years ago…

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. (Ephesians 4.26, ESV)

…but as many times as I’ve read the Psalms, I’d never seen it there:

Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah (Psalm 4.4, ESV)

“Selah” just means, “Think about it.”

I’ve written before that we have way too much outrage in this country, and here’s the solution. How can I be angry and not sin? By pondering the issue in my heart and being silent. Silent?! Now there’s a strategy:

Don’t let it out, let it go!

I think that’s what the text is saying, especially when coupled with the very next verse:

Offer right sacrifices, and put your trust in the LORD. (Psalm 4.5, ESV)

Think about it…

…the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1.20, ESV)

You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4.7, 8, ESV)

As we read the Psalms, note that some of them have an introduction, an unnumbered “verse 0” in our Bibles. FYI, in the Hebrew Bibles, these introductions are “verse 1.” Here’s how Psalm 3 starts:

A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son.
¹  O LORD, how many are my foes! Many are rising against me;
²  many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah
³  But you, O LORD, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. (ESV)

We looked at the story of Absalom’s Defeat back in May.

The obvious (and, for me, often forgotten) lesson is…PRAY:

⁴  I cried aloud to the LORD, and he answered me from his holy hill… ⁷  Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! (ESV)

And after praying, REST if you need it – David did – and TRUST:

⁵  I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
⁶  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. (ESV)

And let’s go into the New Year with confidence:

⁸  Salvation belongs to the LORD; your blessing be on your people! (ESV)

Today is June’s birthday. Her January 2 birthday and my December 13 birthday often get buried in holiday hoopla, and this year was no exception, especially since mine was less than a week after June’s fall. We were able to celebrate both birthdays yesterday with three of our four adult children. (David had been here from Atlanta with his wife, Cheryl, and three boisterous boys, but they left on December 26.) Our daughter, Melody, arrived from the Cayman Islands (where she teaches in an international school) on December 28.

(at the table) Mark’s daughter, Kesley, Matt, Melody, June, Bob, Mark

Here’s how she told it as she was departing:

Today I’m traveling to Colorado to visit my parents, and two of my three brothers. (Unfortunately, I just missed my brother David and family.) My mom had a bad fall a couple weeks ago and broke some bones in her pelvis. She was in a lot of pain, and I felt so helpless being so far away. At Cayman National Choir rehearsal the day after mom’s fall, I mentioned her to my choir. There’s this piece that always reminds me of mom, and I felt quite emotional while they were singing it.

Long story short, one of my dear choir members felt compelled to give me a very special Christmas present! He bought my ticket to go and visit my parents!

I’m still shocked that this dear person would give so generous a gift!

This trip was not in our budget, but God wanted me to be able to go, and He provided a way! Angels do walk among us, dear friends! – Melody Gifford, Facebook, December 28, 2024

Well told, Melody. Another Christmas miracle.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1.17, ESV)

Our 2024 didn’t end quite the way we wanted, but we’re looking forward. Regardless of what kind of year you had, we hope you’re looking forward to God’s activity through you in 2025.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43.18, 19, ESV)

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21.5, ESV)

PS If you’re into numbers, my son Mark reminded me of some 2025 facts:

• 2025 is a perfect square. We haven’t had a perfect square year since 1936.
• 2025 = 9-squared x 5-squared = 15-squared x 3-squared
• 2025 = 400-squared + 20-squared + 5-squared
• 2025 = the sum of cubes from 1 to 9.