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.

November 12, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 56, 111, 118
Nehemiah 13:4-22
Revelation 20:1-6
Matthew 16:21-28

II. Selections
Psalm 56:1
Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me;
all day long foes oppress me ...

Nehemiah 13:22a
And I commanded the Levites that they should purify themselves and come and guard the gates, to keep the sabbath day holy.

Revelation 20:1-6
He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and locked and sealed it over him, so that he would deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be let out for a little while.

Matthew 16:21
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

III. Meditation: Seizing and binding the ancient serpent
Be gracious to us, O God, for evil is persistent. We try to purify ourselves and guard the gates to keep ourselves holy; but foes from within and without trample on us and oppress us. We should not be surprised-Jesus had to go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of his own people, and be killed and raised. Through him you seize and bind the dragon, that ancient serpent, who deceives us and all the nations.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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