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.

September 06, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 42, 102, 133
1 Kings 16:23-34
Philippians 1:12-30
Mark 16:1-8

II. Selections
Ps. 42:5-6
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.

1 Kings 16:33
Ahab also made a sacred pole. Ahab did more to provoke the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, than had all the kings of Israel who were before him.

Philippians 1:18c-19
Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance.

Mark 16:3-4
They had been saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?" When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back.

III. Meditation: Hope for a cast down soul
Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? O God, we may have done more to provoke your anger than any who came before us. Yet we will hope in you; for we shall again praise you, our help and our God. We worry, who will roll away the stone for us, only to look up and see that it has already been rolled back. And so we rejoice that-through the prayers of those who support us and the Spirit of Jesus Christ-you will use even our troubles for our deliverance.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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