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.

Whose Hearts Are Full of Greed--Dec. 16, 2010

O God, there are those whose hearts are full of greed,
who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive
statutes, to turn aside the needy from justice and
deprive of their rights the poor of your people.
Forbid we should play a part in such oppression;
and if we have, help us bear fruit worthy of repentance,
that the victims who have sown in tears all may reap in joy.

Lectionary Readings
Psalms 18:1-20, 147:12-20, 126, 62
Isaiah 9:18-10:4
2 Peter 2:10b-16
Matthew 3:1-12

Selected Verses
Psalm 126:5
May those who sow in tears
      reap with shouts of joy.

Isaiah 10:1-2
Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees,
      who write oppressive statutes,
to turn aside the needy from justice
      and to rob the poor of my people of their right,
that widows may be your spoil,
      and that you may make the orphans your prey!

2 Peter 2:14c
They have hearts full of greed.

Matthew 3:8
“…Bear fruit worthy of repentance.” [John the Baptizer to Pharisees and Sadducees who had come to be baptized]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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