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.

Even if a Mother Forgets, You Will Not--Dec. 28, 2016


O God of compassion, no more will you forget us
than a woman will forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb;
even if a mother forgets, you will not forget.

Though the mountains depart and the hills disappear,
your steadfast love will not depart from us,
and your covenant of peace shall not be removed;
you rejoice over finding a single lost sheep.
Our hope is in your steadfast love.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 2; 147:1-11; 110; 111
Isa. 49:13-23
Isa. 54:1-13
Matt. 18:1-14

Selected Verses
Ps. 147:10-11
[The LORD's] delight is not in the strength of the horse,
          nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner;
but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him,
          in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Isa. 49:15
Can a woman forget her nursing child,
          or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
          yet I will not forget you. 

Isa. 54:10
For the mountains may depart
          and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
          and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,
          says the LORD, who has compassion on you.

Matt. 18:12-13
"…What do you think?  If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.  …"  [Jesus to his disciples]

No comments:

Post a Comment