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 27, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 100, 122
1 Kings 7:51-8:21
Acts 28:17-31
Mark 14:43-52

II. Selections
Ps. 63:3
Because your steadfast love is better than life
my lips will praise you.

1 Kings 8:9
There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone that Moses had placed there at Horeb, where the LORD made a covenant with the Israelites, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Acts 28:20
" ...For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain." [ Paul to the leaders of the Jews in Rome]

Mark 14:43
Immediately, while [ Jesus] was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; and with him there was a crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders.

III. Meditation: Better than life
The ark was empty except for two tablets of stone. What more did the Israelites require than a reminder of your covenant with them-what more do we need than to remember your covenant? Because your steadfast love is better than life our lips will praise you. Because your steadfast love is better than life, Paul found himself bound in a chain. Because your steadfast love is better than life, Jesus faced a murderous mob.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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