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.

Surprises and Delights--August 03, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 12, 146, 36, 7
Judges 7:1-18
Acts 3:1-11
John 1:19-28

II. Selections
Psalm 36:8
They feast on the abundance of your house,
      and you give them drink from the river of your delights.

Judges 7:2
The LORD said to Gideon, “The troops with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand. Israel would only take the credit away from me, saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ … ”

Acts 3:5
And [the lame beggar] fixed his attention on [Peter and John], expecting to receive something from them.

John 1:25-27
[The priests and Levites] asked [John the Baptist], “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.”

III. Meditation

O God of surprises and delights, with you
things are never quite what we anticipated.

The lame beggar expected silver or gold;
instead he received strong feet and ankles.

John’s questioners expected him to boast; they heard
him testify to the coming of one far greater than he was.

Gideon hoped to overwhelm his opposition by the size of
his army; you won for him with a mere handful of troops.

Truly we feast on the abundance of your house;
surely we drink from the river of your delights.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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