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 25, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 23, 66, 108
2 Kings 17:1-18
Acts 9:36-43
Luke 5:1-11

II. Selections
Ps. 108:4
For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens,
and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

2 Kings 17:5-6
Then the king of Assyria invaded all the land and came to Samaria; for three years he besieged it. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria captured Samaria; he carried the Israelites away to Assyria. He placed them in Halah, on the Habor, the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.

Acts 9:39
So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them.

Luke 5:5
Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets."

III. Meditation: Though we have worked all night and caught nothing
In spite of all objective indications, Simon Peter chose to obey Jesus and let down the nets. Because he did, he later found himself called upon to restore a beloved widow to life. When our lives are under siege and the Assyrians threaten to carry us away, in spite of all objective indications strengthen us to obey you; for your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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