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.


You Hold Our Lot--Dec. 9, 2011



"You are my chosen portion and my cup."
It is not enough to say these words;
we must also adhere to them.

Exterior righteousness is far too easy to combine
with interior hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Then we look for much, but it comes to little;
and even the little, you blow away.

Help us seek you, the morning star,
for you hold our lot.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 102; 148; 130; 16
Hag. 1:1-15
Rev. 2:18-29
Matt. 23:27-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 16:5
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;
      you hold my lot.

Hag. 1:9a
You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away.

Rev. 2:28b
"…To the one who conquers I will also give the morning star. …" [One like the Son of Man, to the angel of the church in Thyatira]

Matt. 23:28
"…So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. …" [Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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