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.

When Darkness Comes--July 28, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 65, 147:1-11, 125, 91
Judges 3:12-30
Acts 1:1-14
Matthew 27:45-54

II. Selections
Psalm 65:5
By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
      O God of our salvation;
You are the hope of all the ends of the earth
      and of the highest seas.

Judges 3:30
So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest eighty years.

Acts 1:4
While staying with [the apostles], [the risen Jesus] ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father.

Matthew 27:45
From noon on, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon.

III. Meditation

Come to us with your saving power; establish hope,
O God of our salvation, the hope of earth and sea,

When darkness comes over the whole land for us,
O deliver us with your awesome deeds, we pray.

Teach us to wait for what you have promised;
subdue your enemies, that the land may rest.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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