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 22, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 7, 12, 36
Nahum 1:1-13
1 Peter 1:13-25
Matthew 19:13-22

II. Selections
Psalm 7:9
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end,
but establish the righteous,
you who test the minds and hearts,
O righteous God.

Nahum 1:13
" ...And now I will break off his yoke from you and snap the bonds that bind you."

1 Peter 1:21
Through [ Christ] you have come to trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God.

Matthew 19:13
Then little children were being brought to [ Jesus] in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray.

III. Meditation: Snap the bonds
O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, you who test the minds and hearts, O righteous God. Break off the yoke of sin from us and snap the bonds that bind us. Like little children bring us to Jesus in order that he might lay his hands on us and pray. Through him we have come to trust in you, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that our faith and hope are set on you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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