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.

Hearts Filled with Laughter--Dec. 20, 2012


 Trustworthy and true are your words,
O God--you make justice the line
and righteousness the plummet.

Go before us as we approach Christmas;
turn the hearts of parents to their children
and our disobedience to righteous wisdom;
make ready a people prepared for our Lord.

Then you will make all things new:
our hearts will fill with laughter,
our tongues with shouts of joy.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62

Isa. 28:9-22
Rev. 20:11-21:8
Luke 1:5-25

Selected Verses

Ps. 126:2a

 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
          and our tongue with shouts of joy…

Isa. 28:17a
And I will make justice the line,
            and righteousness the plummet…

Rev. 21:5
And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new."  Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."

Luke 1:17
"…With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.  …"  [The angel Gabriel to Zechariah]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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