I want to thank myself

19-year-old Mirra Andreeva won the French Open women's tennis tournament, a major competition, on June 6, 2026. Tennis tournament winners (and often losers) are expected to make a speech, acknowledging the skill of their opponent, thanking their trainers and coaches, and saying other appropriate things.

Andreeva wore a jacket with the words “I want to thank myself” during the trophy presentation and explained that she was pleased with her own reaction to adversity. Andreeva played well, and, no doubt, is to be applauded for this accomplishment. But her slogan reminds me of one of humanity's most common flaws -- pride. We often praise ourselves, or think that we deserve praise that we didn't get.

One of the most dramatic stories in the Bible is the story of the fiery furnace, in Daniel 3. King Nebuchadnezzar produced an enormous statue of himself, or had others do this. It was about 90 feet tall. Self-promotion on a grand scale. The king had all of the important people in the kingdom brought together, and, at a signal from the band, they were supposed to worship the great statue.

But that self-promotion didn't amount to much. God sent an angel to rescue Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from a fiery furnace, and Nebuchadnezzar realized that people should not be worshiping a statue of himself, or any other gods but the God of Israel.

I wish Andreeva the best. She has accomplished an important milestone in what may be a distinguished career. But she didn't do it by herself. God gave her strength and accuracy and endurance. God allowed her to have good coaching and training. Andreeva's opponent in the French Open finals had to play a few more games than Andreeva did, because she wasn't, it was thought, good enough to win an automatic berth in the tournament, and so she was fatigued for a reason that didn't affect Andreeva.

Pride goes before a fall. Politicians, entertainers, athletes, bloggers do not do things by themselves. May I honor God, not me.

Thanks for reading.

Music in the Bible

 

(Image from the Wikipedia.)

There are many mentions of singing, music, or specific musical instruments in the Bible. Here are a few of them:

In 1 Samuel 16, David came to King Saul’s attention as someone who was skilled at playing the harp.  There are 150 Psalms in the Bible. David is credited as the author in about half of these. In some cases, such as Psalms 4, 5 and 6, specific instruments were to be played, accompanying the singing of the Psalm. Psalm 9, and others, indicate that a Psalm was to be sung to a specific tune.

In 1 Chronicles 15, David had the Ark brought into Jerusalem. The procession was accompanied by music.

In 2 Chronicles 5, the dedication of Solomon’s temple is described. The Bible says that “...when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying,
“For he is good;
    for his loving kindness endures forever!”
then the house was filled with a cloud, even Yahweh’s house ...”

In 2 Chronicles 20, the Israelites, under Jehoshaphat, went to war with a choir of priests going in front of the armed men. God gave a miraculous victory.

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar expected everyone to bow down and worship an image of himself, when “all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ...” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not do this, but God rescued them from the interior of a hot furnace.

Here and here are two references on musical instruments in Bible times. 

Thank you for reading!