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 21, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 97, 115, 124
Ezekiel 4:1-17
Hebrews 6:1-12
Luke 9:51-62

II. Selections
Psalm 97:2
Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Ezekiel 4:16
Then [ the LORD] said to me, Mortal, I am going to break the staff of bread in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with fearfulness; and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay.

Hebrews 6:12
...so that you do not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Luke 9:51
When the days drew near for [ Jesus] to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

III. Meditation: Clouds and thick darkness

The psalmist saw righteousness and justice as the foundation of your throne,
but you were hidden by the clouds and thick darkness all around you.

Ezekiel prophesied desperate times ahead during the siege of Jerusalem;
residents would eat and drink under ration, with fearfulness and dismay.

Jesus understood the terrible fate that lay before him in Jerusalem,
but he set his face to go there. Make us imitators of his courage.

When we become sluggish, remind us of Jesus, and of all
who through faith and patience inherit your promises.

Then perhaps our vision will penetrate the clouds
and thick darkness that surround your throne.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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