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.

August 01, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 65, 91, 125
2 Samuel 3:22-39
Acts 16:16-24
Mark 6:47-56

II. Selections
Psalm 91:9
Because you have made the LORD your refuge,
the Most High your dwelling place ...

2 Samuel 3: 39a
" ...Today I am powerless, even though anointed king; these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too violent for me. ... " [ David, after Joab murdered Abner]

Acts 16:19
But when [ the slave girl's] owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities.

Mark 6:49-50
But when [ his disciples] saw [ Jesus] walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

III. Meditation: Take heart

"Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."

Even King David felt powerless before his violent underlings.
The violence against Paul and Silas was an expression
of helplessness felt by the owners of the slave girl.

Human institutions provide no true security.
Our security comes when we make you
our refuge and our dwelling place.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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