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 06, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 90, 125
2 Samuel 12:15-31
Acts 20:1-16
Mark 9:30-41

II. Selections
Ps. 125:1
Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

2 Sam. 12:22-23
[ David] said, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me, and the child may live.' But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me."

Acts 20:1-2
After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples; and after encouraging them and saying farewell, he left for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given the believers much encouragement, he came to Greece ...

Mark 9:30-41
...for [ Jesus] was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again."

III. Meditation: Encouragement
Those who trust in you are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. David trusted in you enough to hope that you might save the life of his son; but when his son died in spite of his prayers, David still found encouragement through his faith in you. Paul, wherever he went, spent much time encouraging your followers. Jesus encouraged his disciples, too, but with a strange teaching: "The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again." Grant that we may grasp the force of that encouragement.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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