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 God, Our Hope--July 7, 2016


Who can resist your will, O God?
In the end all that we build shall be thrown down,
and many of our dearest hopes and dreams will be dashed.

But with you is steadfast love and great power to redeem,
and so we hope in you.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 116; 147:12-20; 26; 130
Deut. 3:18-28
Rom. 9:19-33
Matt. 24:1-14
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 130:7
 O Israel, hope in the LORD!
          For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
          and with him is great power to redeem. 

Deut. 3:27
But the LORD was angry with me on your account and would not heed me. The LORD said to me, "Enough from you!  Never speak to me of this matter again!  Go up to the top of Pisgah and look around you to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east.  Look well, for you shall not cross over this Jordan.  …"  [Moses to the Israelites]

Rom. 9:19
You will say to me then, "Why then does he still find fault?  For who can resist his will?" 

Matt. 24:2
Then [Jesus] asked [his disciples], "You see all these, do you not?  Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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