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.

July 08, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 7, 12, 36
Numbers 35:1-3, 9-15, 30-34
Romans 8:31-39
Matthew 23:13-26

II. Selections
Psalm 7:2
...or like a lion [ my pursuers] will tear me apart;
they will drag me away, with no one to rescue.

Numbers 35:34
You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the Israelites.

Romans 8:35
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Matthew 23:23c
" ...It is [ justice, mercy, and faith] you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. ... " [ Jesus, speaking of the scribes and Pharisees]

III. Meditation: You dwell among your people

We must not defile the land in which we live;
you dwell among your people.

We must practice justice, mercy, and faith;
you dwell among your people.

Pursuers will not tear us apart or drag us away;
you dwell among your people.

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ;
in him you dwell among your people.


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)