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 19, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 4, 15, 48
1 Kings 22:1-28
1 Corinthians 2:1-13
Matthew 4:18-25

II. Selections
Psalm 48:9
We ponder your steadfast love, O God,
in the midst of your temple.

1 Kings 22:24
Then Zedekiah son of Chenaanah came up to Micaiah, slapped him on the cheek, and said, "Which way did the spirit of the LORD pass from me to speak to you?"

1 Corinthians 2:7
But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.

Matthew 4:23
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

III. Meditation: Secret and hidden

Your wisdom is secret and hidden,
and those who claim to know it
fight to prove they are correct.

It is better to ponder your steadfast love
and recall how Jesus taught and proclaimed-
but this he combined with a ministry of healing.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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