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.

An Arm Like God--September 13, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 135, 145, 97, 112
Job 40:1-24
Acts 15:36-16:5
John 11:55-12:8

II. Selections
Psalm 97:12
Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous,
      and give thanks to his holy name.

Job 40:9
“…Have you an arm like God,
      and can you thunder with a voice like his? … ”
[The LORD answers Job out of the whirlwind.]

Acts 15:41
[Paul] went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

John 11:56
[Those on their way to Jerusalem for the Passover] were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?”

III. Meditation

Mighty God, we do not have an arm like your arm;
our voice does not command the attention yours does.

We rejoice in your power; yet weak as we are,
it seems you sometimes want to work through us.

We are always underestimating what you can do,
whether working through us or in your own way.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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