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.

Like Chaff the Wind Drives Away--Nov. 2, 2016


Holy God, I do not know whether you  
ever send angels to pour out bowls of wrath
upon the unrepentant, whether you blow away
the wicked like chaff driven by the wind,
but we cannot doubt that you want
your people humbly to gather
together to seek you, and in
righteousness and humility
do your commands.  Free
us from our bondage.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33
Zeph. 2:1-15
Rev. 16:1-11
Luke 13:10-17
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 1:4
 The wicked are not so,
          but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

Zeph. 2:1, 3
Gather together, gather,
     O shameless nation,
before you are driven away
     like the drifting chaff…
Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land,
     who do his commands;
seek righteousness, seek humility;
     perhaps you may be hidden
     on the day of the Lord’s wrath.  

Rev. 16:10-11
The fifth angel poured his bowl [of wrath] on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was plunged into darkness; people gnawed their tongues in agony, and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores, and they did not repent of their deeds.

Luke 13:16
"…And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"  [Jesus to those who criticized him for healing on the sabbath.]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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