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.

August 02, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 7, 12, 36
2 Samuel 7:18-29
Acts 18:12-28
Mark 8:22-33

II. Selections
Ps. 7:1-2
O LORD my God, in you I take refuge;
save me from all my pursuers, and deliver me,
or like a lion they will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.

2 Sam. 7:20
And what more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Lord GOD!

Acts 18:14-15
Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters."

Mark 8:33
But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

III. Meditation: Tearing apart like lions
O God, in whom we take refuge; save us from all our pursuers, and deliver us, or like a lion they will tear us apart; they will drag us away, with no one to rescue. What more can we say to you? For you know us. You know we set our minds not on divine things but on human things. We become wrapped up in questions about words and names and legalities, ignoring what you are trying to tell us; and with the ferocity of lions we tear one another apart

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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