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.

September 03, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 9, 62, 73
2 Chronicles 6:32-7:7
James 2:1-13
Mark 14:53-65

II. Selections
Psalm 9:10
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

2 Chronicles 6:33
" ...may you hear from heaven your dwelling place, and do whatever the foreigners ask of you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built. ... " [ King Solomon's prayer of dedication for the Temple]

James 2:5
Listen, my beloved brothers and sisters. Has not God chosen the poor in the world to be rich in faith and to be heirs of the kingdom that he has promised to those who love him?

Mark 14:55
Now the chief priests and the whole council were looking for testimony against Jesus to put him to death; but they found none.

III. Meditation: Forsaken

Lord Jesus, you know how it feels to be forsaken,
what it is to be rich in faith but poor in the world.

You were persecuted by the rich and powerful,
you called the poor to be heirs of the kingdom.

Teach us who know your name to put our trust in you;
may all peoples on earth seek to know you and your love.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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