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.

Knowing the Times--March 30, 2011


The stork in the heavens knows its times;
and the turtle-dove, swallow, and crane
know the time of their coming; but
knowing the times is beyond us.

When Jesus taught in the temple,
he knew his hour had not yet come.
At the right time he died for the ungodly.
We only wait, hoping in your steadfast love.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 5; 147:1-11; 27; 51
Jer. 8:4-7, 18-9:6
Rom. 5:1-11
John 8:12-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 147:11
But the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him;
      in those who hope in his steadfast love.

Jer. 8:7
Even the stork in the heavens
      knows its times;
and the turtle-dove, swallow, and crane
      observe the time of their coming;
but my people do not know
      the ordinance of the LORD.

Rom. 5:6
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

John 8:20
[Jesus] spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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