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.

Surrounded for Good or for Ill?--Aug. 24, 2016


O God, the psalmist and Job agreed
that you surround your people;
 the psalmist considered this desirable,
but to Job it seemed diabolical.
Some in the crowd thought Jesus good,
others thought him a deceiver.
What you made clean, O God, let no one
call profane.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 65; 147:1-11; 125; 91
Job 6:1, 7:1-21
Acts 10:1-16
John 7:1-13
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 125:2
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
          so the LORD surrounds his people,
          from this time on and forevermore. 

Job 7:17-18
"…What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, visit them every morning, test them every moment?  …"  [Job]

Acts 10:15
The voice said to [Peter] again, a second time, "What God has made clean, you must not call profane." 

John 7:12
And there was considerable complaining about [Jesus] among the crowds.  While some were saying, "He is a good man," others were saying, "No, he is deceiving the crowd." 
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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