F. B. Meyer Books: A Guide to All 32 and Where to Start

Biography Bible Study Christian Life Holiness Devotional

F. B. Meyer (1847–1929) was an English Baptist pastor in Leicester and London, a regular speaker at the Keswick Convention, and one of the most widely read devotional writers of his time. He wrote more than seventy-five books. TheWay Library has thirty-two of them, all free to read: eleven lives of Bible characters, nine books of Bible exposition, eight books of addresses on the deeper Christian life, and a handful of books of comfort and counsel. For his life story, see who was F. B. Meyer.

This guide sorts them so you can find what you need.

Where to start

If you're new to Meyer, start with one of his Bible biographies. Joseph: Beloved, Hated, Exalted is a good first pick: a gripping story, short chapters, and lessons on suffering, purity and forgiveness on every page.

After that, choose by what you want:

More Bible lives: Moses, Elijah, David or Paul.
Comfort in sorrow: The Shepherd Psalm or Peace, Perfect Peace.
The deeper Christian life: Steps Into the Blessed Life.
A new Christian: Saved and Kept.
For preachers: Expository Preaching.

Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of F. B. Meyer quotes.

Bible biographies

These are Meyer's best-known books. Each follows one person through the Bible story in short chapters and shows how God shaped them by faith, trial and grace. They work well for personal reading or a small group.

Old Testament

Israel, a Prince with God: the life of Jacob, from the stolen blessing and Bethel to the night of wrestling at Peniel and his peaceful death. God patiently changes a schemer into a prince.
Joseph: Beloved, Hated, Exalted: from his father's favorite son to the ruler of Egypt, with chapters on the pit, the secret of purity and Joseph making himself known.
Moses: The Servant of God: from his mother's faith to his death on Pisgah. Meyer shows Moses as a man like us whose greatness came by faith and long training in God's school.
Joshua, and the Land of Promise: the conquest of Canaan read as a picture of the believer entering the rest and victory God gives in Christ.
Samuel the Prophet: Hannah's prayer, the boy who heard God, Ebenezer, and the sad story of Saul.
David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King: twenty-seven chapters, setting the Psalms beside the events that inspired them, including the great sin of David's life and its cost.
Elijah, and the Secret of His Power: the drying brook, Carmel, the prophet's despair and the still small voice. Meyer finds Elijah's secret in faith, prayer and dependence on God.
Jeremiah, Priest and Prophet: the lonely prophet from his call to the fall of Jerusalem, with chapters on the potter's wheel and the burned scroll.

There is no short cut to the life of faith, which is the all-vital condition of a holy and victorious life.
David: Shepherd, Psalmist, King, The Faith of God's Elect

New Testament

John the Baptist: from the desert to Herod's prison, with John's joy in decreasing so that Christ could increase.
Peter: Fisherman, Disciple, Apostle: his call, his denial, the risen Lord's message "and Peter," his restoration, Pentecost and Cornelius.
Paul, a Servant of Jesus Christ: from Tarsus and the Damascus road to his longing to depart and be with Christ, with a chronology of his life.

Bible expositions

These walk through a book or passage of Scripture devotionally, a section at a time.

The Shepherd Psalm: Psalm 23, phrase by phrase. One of his best short books, and a comfort to anyone in a hard season.
Christ in Isaiah: Isaiah 40 to 55, from "Comfort ye my people" through the Servant of the Lord and Isaiah 53.
The Prophet of Hope: studies in Zechariah for discouraged believers, including "not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit."
Blessed Are Ye: short talks picturing the Beatitudes as eight gates into the city of blessedness.
The Life and Light of Men: John 1 to 12.
Love to the Uttermost: John 13 to 21, the sequel, from the foot-washing and the upper room to the resurrection.
Tried by Fire: First Peter, written for Christians under trial.
The Creed of Creeds: fifty-two short readings on the Apostles' Creed, phrase by phrase. Good for a year of weekly reading.

God's people are not saved from trial, but in it.
Christ in Isaiah, Ye Are My Witnesses

The deeper Christian life

These books of addresses carry the message Meyer gave at Keswick: surrender to Christ, the indwelling Christ, and the filling of the Holy Spirit.

Steps Into the Blessed Life: twenty addresses on consecration, guidance, abiding, the filling of the Spirit and victory over sin, ending with his own Keswick testimony. The best place to start in this group.
The Present Tenses of the Blessed Life: eighteen meditations on what Christ and the Spirit do for believers now: "I am with you," "cleanseth," "liveth," "comforteth."
The Future Tenses of the Blessed Life: its companion, on God's "I will" promises and the difference between praying and claiming.
A Castaway, and Other Addresses: ten addresses on the will, the self-life, the Christ-life and the infilling of the Spirit.
Back to Bethel: ten addresses on separation from sin and fellowship with God, including the rule of our thoughts.
Calvary to Pentecost: addresses following the church year from Good Friday to Pentecost.
The Glorious Lord: eleven addresses, from the hidings of God to becoming like Christ by beholding Him.
The Soul's Pure Intention: meditations on a heart whose single aim is God, kept even in drudgery and city life.

We are not what we feel or think, or wish, but what we will.
A Castaway, and Other Addresses, The Substitution of the Christ-Life for the Self-Life

Comfort and counsel

Peace, Perfect Peace: four short chapters for the grieving, on perfect peace, bearing sorrow, where the blessed dead are now, and comforting others.
Cheer for Life's Pilgrimage: ten addresses of encouragement for Christians on the road.
Saved and Kept: twenty-three brief counsels for new Christians, starting with a prayer of dedication. Give it to someone who has just come to faith.

For preachers, and on missions

Expository Preaching: Plans and Methods: six lectures pleading for preaching that explains and applies a whole passage rather than using a text as a motto.
The Wideness of God's Mercy: six addresses on missions. Starting from Paul's sermons in Acts, he argues that God has never left any nation without a witness, and that this makes the church's task more urgent, not less.

A note on these editions

Several of these books were restored from scans of old printings and are still being proofread. Elijah, Moses, Expository Preaching, Saved and Kept, The Life and Light of Men and Tried by Fire have scattered misread words, often a dropped first letter at the start of a chapter. The text is readable throughout.

Why read Meyer today

Meyer is gentle, clear and close to the Bible. He takes stories you already know and shows you your own heart in them, then points you to Christ. Begin with Joseph or The Shepherd Psalm. All thirty-two books are on the F. B. Meyer author page.