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.

June 14, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 96, 132, 134
Ecclesiastes 9:11-18
Galatians 5:1-15
Matthew 16:1-12

II. Selections
Psalm 134:1
Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!

Ecclesiastes 9:15
Now there was found in [ a little city under siege] a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

Galatians 5:7
You were running well; who prevented you from obeying the truth?

Matthew 16:12
Then [ the disciples] perceived that [ Jesus] had not told them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

III. Meditation: Wisdom
Preserve us from false teaching,
and from being false teachers.

Help us distinguish between wise advice
and that which trips us when we are running well.

It is good to honor human wisdom,
better by far to bless you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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