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.

December 06, 2008

2008 December 06

I. Readings
Psalms 72, 80, 90
Isaiah 4:2-6
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
Luke 21:5-19

II. Selections
Psalm 72:4
May [ the king] defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.

Isaiah 4:6
[ The canopy the LORD creates over the glory] will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.

1 Thessalonians 4:13
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Luke 21:12
" ...But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. ... " [ Jesus to his disciples]

III. Meditation: A shade and a refuge and shelter

O God our defender, you have promised to shade all your people
from the heat and shelter them from storm and rain. Defend
the cause of the poor, deliver the needy from oppression,
and protect those who are arrested and persecuted for
doing your good works. May all find assurance
in your promise to be with us even in death.
We pray in the name of Jesus, in whom
we find our strength and our hope.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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