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.

Higher than Heaven; Deeper than Sheol--Aug. 28, 2016


Almighty God, you are higher than the heaven--
what can we do?
You are deeper than Sheol--what can we know?
We must not weep;
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,
has conquered.
What we can know is that you are our Shepherd;
we shall not want.
What we can do is listen to the teaching of Jesus,
then follow him.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 108; 150; 66; 23
Job 11:1-9, 13-20
Rev. 5:1-14
Matt. 5:1-12
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 

Job 11:8
[The limit of the Almighty] is higher than heaven--what can you do?  Deeper than Sheol--what can you know?  …"  [Zophar the Naamathite to Job]

Rev. 5:5
Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep.  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals."

Matt. 5:1-2
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying…

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