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.


As Your Hand Was with John--Dec. 22, 2011



I love you, God, my strength--
but who am I, that you
have brought me
thus far?

Guard me,
and protect me from
myself, lest I end with the
flesh after starting with the Spirit.

As your hand was with John,
let it be also with me.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62
2 Sam. 7:18-29
Gal. 3:1-14
Luke 1:57-66

Selected Verses
Ps. 18:1
I love you, O LORD, my strength.

2 Sam. 7:18
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, "Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? …"

Gal. 3:3
Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh?

Luke 1:66
All who heard [these things about the birth of John] pondered them and said, "What then will this child become?" For, indeed, the hand of the Lord was with him.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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