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 08, 2005


I. Readings
Psalms 16, 62, 97
1 Kings 18:1-19
Philippians 2:12-30
Matthew 2:13-23

II. Selections
Ps. 62:9
Those of low estate are but a breath,
those of high estate are a delusion;
in the balances they go up;
they are together lighter than a breath.

1 Kings 18:17-18
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, "Is it you, you troubler of Israel?" He answered, "I have not troubled Israel; but you have, and your father's house, because you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and followed the Baals.

Philippians 2:29-30
Welcome [ Epaphroditus] then in the Lord with all joy, and honor such people, because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for those services that you could not give me.

Matthew 2:16
When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men.

III. Meditation: Whom to honor
Whom do we honor and welcome with joy? Those of high estate expect to be honored. The mighty may not appreciate troublers who tell the truth about how they hold power; they may feel the need to protect their status at all cost, even the slaughter of innocents. Those of low estate are but a breath on the double-pan balance of power; but weighed against you, even the mighty are a delusion; you counterbalance them all. Whom then shall we welcome and honor? Paul calls us to honor the ones who risk their all for the work of Christ.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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