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.

May 09, 2010


Every Perfect Gift

I. Readings
Psalms 93, 150, 136, 117
Leviticus 25:1-17
James 1:2-8, 16-18
Luke 12:13-21

II. Selections
Psalm 136:23
It is he who remembered us in our low estate,
for his steadfast love endures forever…

Leviticus 25:5
You shall not reap the aftergrowth of your harvest or gather the grapes of your unpruned vine: it shall be a year of complete rest for the land.

James 1:17
Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Luke 12:20
“…But God said to [the rich man], ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ … ” [Jesus to the crowd]

III. Meditation

O God of steadfast love, the Father of lights,
with you there is no variation or shadow due to change.

You have remembered us in our low estate;
let us remember your generous acts of giving.

And grant us patience in fallow time to wait for you
to feed us, rather than aiming to fill our barns to overflowing;

for though the day will come when you will demand our very life,
every perfect gift comes from you, whose steadfast love endures forever.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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