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.

We Clap Our Hands with Songs of Joy--May 11, 2017


We clap our hands, shouting to you
with loud songs of joy, O God,
for you have loved us
with an everlasting love.

When we were dead in trespasses,
you forgave us and made us alive,
together with Christ.
Teach us to dig deep
and lay our foundation on him,
that we may build lives pleasing to you.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Jer. 31:1-14
Col. 2:8-23
Luke 6:39-49  

Selected Verses
Ps. 47:1
Clap your hands, all you peoples;
          shout to God with loud songs of joy. 

Jer. 31:3b
 I have loved you with an everlasting love;
          therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 

Col. 2:13
And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with [Christ], when he forgave us all our trespasses…

Luke 6:48
"…That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built.  …"  [Jesus to the crowds]

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