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.

May 03, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 47, 68, 113
Jeremiah 31:1-14
Colossians 2:8-23
Luke 6:39-49

II. Selections
Psalm 68:4
Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds-
his name is the LORD-
be exultant before him.

Jeremiah 31:9
With weeping they shall come,
and with consolations I will lead them back,
I will let them walk by brooks of water,
in a straight path in which they shall not stumble;
for I have become a father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn.

Colossians 2:13-14a
And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands.

Luke 6:45
The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

III. Meditation: Out of the abundance of the heart

Weeping we come;
console us, lead us home
on a path by brooks of water.

Forgive our trespasses,
erase them from the record,
make us alive, together with you.

Put good treasure in our heart;
that out of it we may produce good,
and sing, and lift to you a song of praise.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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