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.

Cry from the Heart--Oct. 9, 2012


 Out of hate, some join a conspiracy to kill;
what are we ready to do out of love?

We wail upon our beds--but do we cry from the heart
in earnest appeal for those the people love?

O God, look down from heaven
to hear the groans of the prisoners;
set free those who are doomed to die.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133
Hosea 7:8-16
Acts 23:12-24
Luke 7:1-17

 

Selected Verses

Ps. 102:19b-20
            …from heaven the LORD looked at the earth,
 to hear the groans of the prisoners,
            to set free those who were doomed to die…

Hosea 7:14a
[The people of Ephraim] do not cry to me from the heart, but they wail upon their beds…

Acts 23:12
In the morning the Jews joined in a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath neither to eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.

Luke 7:4-5
When [the Jewish elders] came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "[The centurion with the sick slave] is worthy of having you [heal his slave], for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us."


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