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 18, 2010


You Provide, Abundantly

I. Readings
Psalms 98, 146, 66, 116
1 Samuel 16:1-13a
Ephesians 3:14-21
Matthew 8:18-27

II. Selections
Psalm 66:13-14
I will come into your house with burnt offerings;
I will pay you my vows,
those that my lips uttered
and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

1 Samuel 16:1
The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Matthew 8:21-22
Another of his disciples said to [Jesus], “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

III. Meditation

Lord, you provide for yourself, and you provide for us.
By the power of your work within us you are able to
accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine.

What is our part in this? Perhaps to keep the vows that our
lips uttered and our mouths promised when we were in trouble?
But more important, to leave behind what is past and follow you.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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