EXCLUSIVE — Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) knows his Bible. Having spoken with him a number of times in recent years, I’ve grown accustomed to the senator casually dropping Bible verses in ordinary conversation. 

On the phone the other day, Scott responded to my question, “How’s things in D.C.?” by saying, “We’re blessed and highly favored. But the truth is, it’s sunny but partly cloudy,” echoing Psalm 84’s “blessed and greatly favored” and the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary in Luke’s Gospel as “highly favored one.”