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.

July 02, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 47, 57, 85
1 Samuel 10:17-27
Acts 7:44-8:1a
Luke 22:52-62

II. Selections
Psalm 57:4
I lie down among lions
that greedily devour human prey;
their teeth are spears and arrows,
their tongues sharp swords.

1 Samuel 10: 27a
But some worthless fellows said, "How can this man [ Saul] save us?" They despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.

Acts 7:60
Then [ Stephen] knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he died.

Luke 22:61
The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, "Before the cock crows today, you will deny me three times."

III. Meditation: The teeth of lions

Stephen asked you to forgive those who killed him with stones.
Saul-newly king-held his peace when some men despised him.

Our words can devour, our mouth can kill like spears and arrows;
Peter's words of denial must have pierced Jesus like a sharp sword.

We do not kill by throwing stones, like those who killed Stephen;
but teach us to guard our words, and to forgive when we are injured.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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