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 12, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 103, 117, 139
2 Samuel 13:1-22
Romans 15:1-13
John 3:22-36

II. Selections
Psalm 103:2
Bless the LORD, O my soul,
and do not forget all his benefits ...

2 Samuel 13:16
But [ Tamar] said to [ Amnon], "No, my brother; for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me." But he would not listen to her.

Romans 15:1
We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.

John 3:29
He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom , who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. For this reason my joy has been fulfilled.

III. Meditation: Wrongs and greater wrongs

We are more inclined to forget your benefits than to bless you;
to be jealous of another's good fortune than to celebrate it;
to find fault with than to tolerate the failings of the weak;
to be angry with than to beg pardon from the person we have wronged.

God have mercy upon us, and make us change our ways!

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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