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.

In a Dry and Weary Land--September 4, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 63, 149, 125, 90
Job 22:1-4, 21-23:7
Acts 13:26-43
John 10:1-18

II. Selections
Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God, I seek you,
      my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
      as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Job 23:3
“…Oh, that I knew where I might find [God],
      that I might come even to his dwelling! … ”
[Job answers Eliphaz]

Acts 13:38-39
“…Let it be known to you therefore, my brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you; by this Jesus everyone who believes is set free from all those sins from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses. … ” [Paul speaking in the synagogue in Antioch of Pisidia]

John 10:16
“…I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. … ” [Jesus to some Pharisees]

III. Meditation

O God, when we seek you, when our soul thirsts for you,
and our flesh faints for you as in a dry and weary land,
where shall we find you, how come into your dwelling?

Perhaps Paul was right; perhaps we find you through the man
who proclaims forgiveness for the sin that separates us from you,
through the man who sets us free from all that binds us.

Grant that we may listen to his voice, and not only we,
but sheep who do not belong to our fold, that we may
all become one flock under him who is our Shepherd.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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