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.

Hope that Will Not Disappoint Us--March 22, 2017


Restore to us, O God,
the joy of your salvation;
sustain in us a willing spirit.
When we fall, help us rise again;
when we go astray, help us turn back.

Through Jesus we know you, and we know
 your Holy Spirit; pour your love into our hearts;
full of your love, our hope will never disappoint us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 5; 147:1-11; 27; 51
Jer. 8:4-7, 18-9:6
Rom. 5:1-11
John 8:12-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
          and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Jer. 8:4
You shall say to them, Thus says the LORD:
     When people fall, do they not get up again?
          If they go astray, do they not turn back? 

Rom. 5:5
…and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

John 8:19
Then [his critics] said to [Jesus], “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father.  If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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