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 21, 2006

I. Readings
Psalms 28, 54, 99
Habakkuk 3:1-18
James 3:1-12
Luke 17:1-10

II. Selections
Psalm 28:1
Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.

Habakkuk 3:2
O LORD, I have heard of your renown,
and I stand in awe, O LORD, of your work.
In our own time revive it;
in our own time make it known;
in wrath may you remember mercy.

James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity; it stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle of nature, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Luke 17:2
" ...It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. ... " [ Jesus to his disciples]

III. Meditation: Save us from our tongues

Save us, O God, by your name, and vindicate us by your might.
Save us from our tongues-our tongues set on fire by hell,
placed among our members as a world of iniquity,
by which we cause your little ones to stumble.

O God, we have heard of your great works,
and we stand in awe of them.
Be merciful to us
and save us.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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