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.

Who Controls My Destiny?--Sept. 25, 2012



Haman, with all his royal power and honors,
could not be happy--one pious Jew ignored him.

King Herod could not tolerate the criticism
of an eccentric, charismatic preacher.

Haman and Herod wanted complete control
of their own destinies and all opponents eliminated.

Paul put his destiny in your hands;
Paul's heart trusted in you.

Make me like Paul, not like the unhappy rulers,
that my heart may exult in you,
my song give you thanks.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 54; 146; 28; 99
Esth. 5:1-14
Acts 18:12-28
Luke 3:15-22

 

Selected Verses

Ps. 28:7
 The LORD is my strength and my shield;
          in him my heart trusts;
 so I am helped, and my heart exults,
          and with my song I give thanks to him.

Esth. 5:12-13
Haman added, "Even Queen Esther let no one but myself come with the king to the banquet that she prepared.  Tomorrow also I am invited by her, together with the king.  Yet all this does me no good so long as I see the Jew Mordecai sitting at the king's gate."

Acts 18:20-21
When [members of the synagogue] asked [Paul] to stay longer, he declined; but on taking leave of them, he said, "I will return to you, if God wills."  Then he set sail from Ephesus.

Luke 3:19-20
But Herod the ruler, who had been rebuked by [John the Baptist] because of Herodias, his brother's wife, and because of all the evil things that Herod had done, added to them all by shutting up John in prison.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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