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.


Power and Evil--Aug. 4, 2011

[from August 9, 2007 archive]

Evil can be overpowering, especially to the powerful.
Even the virtuous King David commanded evil deeds.

Yet the suffering brought on by evil power falls heavily
upon the innocent--Uriah, Bathsheba, John the Baptist.

You have given us power, O God; forbid that we use it
to promote bloodshed and evil, lest we be swept away.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 116; 147:12-20; 26; 130
2 Sam. 11:1-27
Acts 19:11-20
Mark 9:2-13

Selected Verses
Ps. 26:9
Do not sweep me away with sinners,
      nor my life with the bloodthirsty…

2 Sam. 11:25
David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab, 'Do not let this matter trouble you, for the sword devours now one and now another; press your attack on the city, and overthrow it.' And encourage him."

Acts 19:16
Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on [the itinerant exorcists], mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.

Mark 9:13
"…But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did to him whatever they pleased, as it is written about him." [Jesus to Peter, James, and John]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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