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.

Reasons to Repent--Sept. 19, 2014


If I have no more understanding than a horse or mule,
so you must curb my temper with bit and bridle--
and otherwise I will not stay near you, O God;
if when my every command is not obeyed,
I become so enraged my anger burns within me;
if jealousy makes me set my surroundings in an uproar;
or if I love human glory more than glory that comes from you;
if any or all of these apply to me, in your mercy forgive me, dear God.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Esth. 1:1-4, 10-19
Acts 17:1-15
John 12:36b-43

Selected Verses
Ps. 32:9
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
          whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
          else it will not stay near you.

Esth. 1:12
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command conveyed by the eunuchs.  At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.

Acts 17:5
But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. 

John 12:43
…for [those who feared being put out of the synagogue] loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

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