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 08, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 63, 90, 125
1 Kings 12:1-20
James 5:7-20
Mark 15:33-39

II. Selections
Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

1 Kings 12:9
[ King Rehoboam] said to [ the young men who attended him], "What do you advise that we answer this people who have said to me, 'Lighten the yoke that your father put on us'?"

James 5:11
Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Mark 15:34
At three o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

III. Meditation: At three o'clock

It is a dry and weary land,
with no water for the executed;
and more than the endurance of Job
is demanded.

O, you who are known
for compassion and mercy-
cannot the yoke be lightened
on this forsaken one?

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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