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 12, 2010


The Cries of the Afflicted

I. Readings
Psalms 99, 147:1-11, 9, 118
Leviticus 26:27-42
Ephesians 1:1-10
Matthew 22:41-46

II. Selections
Psalm 9:12
For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.

Leviticus 26:36
And as for those of you who survive, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall though no one pursues.

Ephesians 1:7-8a
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us.

Matthew 22:41-42a
Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them this question: “What do you think of the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

III. Meditation

Righteous God, the cries of the afflicted must ring in your ears.
So many cries. So much affliction. So much blood to avenge.
Is it true that you will not forget?

Because if it is true, we who survive have much to fear.
Have we not participated in their affliction— if not by what
we have done, at least by what we have failed to do?

We have reason to be faint of heart—
ready to flee at the sound of a driven leaf;
ready to fall though no one pursues.

In that light, Jesus’ question to the Pharisees
is urgent to us: Whose son is he—
son of David, Son of God, or both?

If both, does that mean you forgive our trespasses,
that he has lavished his grace upon us and redeemed us?
Then should not the cries of the afflicted ring also in our ears?
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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