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.

In Sympathy with David's Anger--Aug. 1, 2015


You have made us, O God,
and we are yours, your people,
the sheep of your pasture.

You have compassion for us,
feeding us when we are hungry.
In you we live and move
and have our being.

Would you then kill
in anger because a man
touched a holy object
to keep if from falling?
I cannot think so.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122; 149; 100; 63
2 Sam. 5:22-6:11
Acts 17:16-34
Mark 8:1-10

Selected Verses
Ps. 100:3
Know that the LORD is God.
          It is he that made us, and we are his;
          we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

2 Sam. 6:7-8a
The anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God.  David was angry because the LORD had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah…

Acts 17:28a
"…For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’  …"  [Paul to philosophers in Athens]

Mark 8:1-2
In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, he called his disciples and said to them, "I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat.  …"

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