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.

December 06, 2005

I. Readings
Psalms 33, 85, 94
Amos 7:10-17
Revelation 1:9-16
Matthew 22:34-46

II. Selections
Psalm 33:11
The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Amos 7:10
Then Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, sent to King Jeroboam of Israel, saying, "Amos has conspired against you in the very center of the house of Israel; the land is not able to bear all his words. ..."

Revelation 1:10-11a
I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches ..."

Matthew 22:42
"What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?" [ The Pharisees] said to him, "The son of David."

III. Meditation: Whose son is he?
Your counsel, O God, stands forever, the thoughts of your heart to all generations. Sometimes your voice comes to us loud, like a trumpet, and your demands are plain and clear. We do not want to hear, though-we fear the land will not be able to bear all your words. To repeat them will bring down on us accusations of conspiracy against the powerful. Perhaps the courage to listen depends upon whose Son we think the Messiah is.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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