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.

October 25, 2007

I. Readings
Psalms 81, 116, 143
Jeremiah 42:1-22
1 Corinthians 16:1-9
Matthew 12:15-21

II. Selections
Psalm 143:3
For the enemy has pursued me,
crushing my life to the ground,
making me sit in darkness like those long dead.

Jeremiah 42:15b-16
...If you are determined to enter Egypt and go to settle there, then the sword that you fear shall overtake you there, in the land of Egypt; and the famine that you dread shall follow close after you into Egypt; and there you shall die. [ Jeremiah prophesizing to the people who wanted to escape the king of Babylon by fleeing into Egypt]

1 Corinthians 16:8-9
But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.

Matthew 12:19
" ...[ My servant] will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. ... " [ citation from Isaiah]

III. Meditation: Response to persecution

His enemy pursued the psalmist,
crushed his life to the ground,
made him sit in darkness,
like those long dead.

How shall we respond to persecution?
Paul was determined to stay in Ephesus
in spite of his many adversaries there.

The Israelites who had rebelled against
the king of Babylon feared retribution
and wanted to flee to Egypt, but Jeremiah
warned them of deadly consequences.

Your servant, said Isaiah, would not wrangle or cry
aloud, nor would anyone hear his voice in the streets.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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