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.

When I Feel Forsaken and Forgotten--Jan. 26, 2017


I feel forgotten, God; have you forsaken me?
Remind me of the days of old,
let me meditate on the works of your hands
and think about all your deeds.
Am I so foolish?  Having started with the Spirit,
am I now ending with the flesh?
Did I for nothing experience all of your love?
Can a woman forget her nursing child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget, yet you will not forget.
You sent us Jesus, who found sheep without a shepherd,
who had compassion on them, and who taught them.
Teach me, Good Shepherd: you neither forget nor forsake us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 143; 147:12-20; 81; 116
Isa. 49:13-26
Gal. 3:1-14
Mark 6:30-46

Selected Verses
Ps. 143:5
 I remember the days of old,
          I think about all your deeds,
          I meditate on the works of your hands. 

Isa. 49:14-15
But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me,
          my Lord has forgotten me.”
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. 

Gal. 3:3-4a
Are you so foolish?  Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?   Did you experience so much for nothing? 

Mark 6:30-46
As [Jesus] went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 

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