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.

August 19, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 30, 86, 123
Judges 18:1-15
Acts 8:1-13
John 5:30-47

II. Selections
Psalm 30:3
O LORD, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from those gone down to the Pit.

Judges 18:1
In those days there was no king in Israel. And in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking for itself a territory to live in; for until then no territory among the tribes of Israel had been allotted to them.

Acts 8:1
And Saul approved of their killing [ Stephen]. That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria.

John 5:30
" ...I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is just, because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. ... " [ Jesus to those who were seeking to kill him]

III. Meditation: Nothing on his own

If the best who ever lived did nothing on his own,
and sought always to do not his will but yours,
no wonder that we, so lacking in perfection,
fail wretchedly when we are far from you.

There was no king in Israel, and the Danites had
no one to lead them, no living place allotted.
They were roving thieves and murderers.

Members of the early church were persecuted
after the stoning of Stephen, and scattered
throughout the land; but you were with
them; therefore the gospel prospered.

When we are lost without you, bring up our
soul from the pit; restore to life by your
presence, and keep us ever near you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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