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 14, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 24, 25, 110
Isaiah 13:1-13
Hebrews 12:18-29
John 3:22-30

II. Selections
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it ...

Isaiah 13:7-8a
Therefore all hands will be feeble,
and every human heart will melt,
and they will be dismayed.

Hebrews 12:28
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks, by which we offer to God an acceptable worship with reverence and awe ...

John 3:27
John answered [ his disciples], "No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven. ... "

III. Meditation: All the earth belongs to you, and so do we

The earth belongs to you, along with every thing and everyone in it;
no one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.

But you have promised us your kingdom, which cannot be shaken;
so we give you thanks, and thereby offer to you reverence and awe.

When our hands become feeble, and every human heart melts, and
all are filled with dismay, remind us, O God-we belong to you.

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