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.

A Heavenly Country--Feb. 3, 2013


 God grant us help against the foe,
for human help is worthless.
We desire a better place,
a heavenly country,

where the oppressed are released
and where no one lacks bread,
where all seek your glory
instead of their own.

Or do you simply want us to ask
your help to make the place
in which we live more
like your heaven?

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 108; 150; 66; 23
Isa. 51:9-16
Heb. 11:8-16
John 7:14-31

Selected Verses

Ps. 108:12
O grant us help against the foe,
          for human help is worthless.

Isa. 51:14
The oppressed shall speedily be released;
          they shall not die and go down to the Pit,
          nor shall they lack bread.

Heb. 11:16a
But as it is, [people seeking a homeland] desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.

John 7:18
"…Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.  …"  [Jesus in reply to those astonished at his learning]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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