I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

When We Sit in Darkness like the Dead--April 12, 2014


When our life has been crushed;
when like the dead we sit in darkness
dark enough to be felt; and when our outer
nature is wasting away, we must not lose heart.
Stretch out your hand to us, dear God, and we will
take heart; day by day call us and renew our
inner nature.  Then we will throw off our
cloak, spring up, and come to Jesus.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 43; 49; 31; 143
Exod. 10:21-11:8
2 Cor. 4:13-18
Mark 10:46-52

Selected Verses
Ps. 143:3
For the enemy has pursued me,
          crushing my life to the ground,
          making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 

Exod. 10:21
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt."

2 Cor. 4:16
So we do not lose heart.  Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.

Mark 10:49b-50
And they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take heart; get up, he is calling you."  So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

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