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.

June 07, 2010

Tormented By a Demon

I. Readings
Psalms 62, 145, 73, 9
Ecclesiastes 7:1-14
Galatians 4:12-20
Matthew 15:21-28

II. Selections
Psalm 9:15
The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
      in the net that they hid has their own foot been caught.

Ecclesiastes 7:5
It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

Galatians 4:16
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Matthew 15:22
Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.”

III. Meditation

The rebuke of the wise does not appeal to me much;
hearing the truth about myself is hard to endure;
in general I seem to prefer the song of fools.

As a result I sink in the pit I have made, and I catch
my own foot in the net I have hidden for others.
Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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