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.

Before the Mountains Were Brought Forth--Dec. 16, 2017


O God, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations; from everlasting
to everlasting you are God.
All the works that we do,
the books that we write,
the skyscrapers we erect,
all these will be torn down;
but in you, Lord, we take courage,
for you will be with us; your Spirit will
abide with us--we shall not fear.
Help us remember what we
have received and heard,
and obey it, and repent.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 90; 149; 80; 72
Hagg. 2:1-9
Rev. 3:1-6
Matt. 24:1-14

Selected Verses
Ps. 90:1-2
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
          in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
          or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
          from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Hagg. 2:4b-5
 …take courage, all you people of the land, says the LORD; work, for I am with you, says the LORD of hosts, according to the promise that I made you when you came out of Egypt.  My spirit abides among you; do not fear. 

Rev. 3:3a
"…Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent.  …"  [The angel of the church in Sardis to its members]

Matt. 24:1-2
As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.  Then he asked them, "You see all these, do you not?  Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."

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