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 They Ignore, Insult or Grind Their Teeth--July 3, 2017


Lord God, even in the hour of darkness
you speak peace to your people;
pray turn our hearts to you,
that we may hear you.

When others ignore or insult us,
yet may we hold our peace.
When they are enraged
and grind their teeth,
fill us with your
Holy Spirit.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 57; 145; 85; 47
1 Sam. 10:17-27
Acts 7:44-8:1a
Luke 22:52-62

Selected Verses
Ps. 85:8
 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
          for he will speak peace to his people,
          to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts. 

1 Sam. 10:27
But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man [Saul] save us?”  They despised him and brought him no present.  But he held his peace.

Acts 7:54-55
When [members of the council] heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen.   But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 

Luke 22:52-53
Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple police, and the elders who had come for him, "Have you come out with swords and clubs as if I were a bandit?  When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me.  But this is your hour, and the power of darkness!"

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