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 05, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 25, 40, 84
Job 19:1-7, 14-27
Acts 13:13-25
John 9:18-41

II. Selections
Psalm 84:2
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Job 19:1-2
Then Job answered [ Bildad]:
"How long will you torment me,
and break me in pieces with words? ... "

Acts 13:13
Then Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John [ called Mark-15:38], however, left them and returned to Jerusalem ... "

John 9:34
[ The Pharisees] answered [ the man whose sight had been restored by Jesus], "You were born entirely in sins, and are you trying to teach us?" And they drove him out.

III. Meditation: My heart and my flesh sing

The haughty abuse, drive out the humble;
friends break us in pieces with words,
or they abandon us in time of need;
and our soul longs, indeed it faints,
to be with you; for then our heart
and our flesh will sing for joy.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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