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 20, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 4, 15, 48, 147:1-11
Judges 18:16-31
Acts 8:14-25
John 6:1-15

II. Selections
Psalm 147:3
[ The LORD] heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.

Judges 18:19-20a
[ The men who had gone to spy out the land] said to [ Micah's priest], "Keep quiet! Put your hand over your mouth, and come with us, and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one person, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?" Then the priest accepted the offer.

Acts 8:20
But Peter said to [ Simon the magician], "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God's gift with money! ... "

John 6:11
Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.

III. Meditation: Not by force or bribery

Some have tried to obtain your gift with money;
others have used force in the attempt to steal it;
but for the five thousand who sat and waited,
you freely provided all the food they wanted.
O God of Mercy, feed the hungry in our world,
heal the brokenhearted, and bind up their wounds.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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