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.

Circumcise My Heart--June 12, 2017


O Lord my God,
circumcise my heart, and make it strong;
circumcise my heart; make me love you
with all my heart and with all my soul,
 that you may be my portion forever.

Circumcise my heart, that I may seek
your commendation, not my own.
Circumcise my heart, that I may
understand how your heart
was broken in my behalf.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 62; 145; 73; 9
Deut. 30:1-10
2 Cor. 10:1-18
Luke 18:31-43

Selected Verses
Ps. 73:26
My flesh and my heart may fail,
          but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Deut. 30:6
Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, so that you will love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live.

2 Cor. 10:18
For it is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends.

Luke 18:31-33
Then [Jesus] took the twelve aside and said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.   For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon.   After they have flogged him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise again." 

No comments:

Post a Comment