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.

Greater Than Our Hearts--April 15, 2013


[from May 9, 2011 archive]

You are greater than our hearts,
and you know what is in them.
When our hearts are upright, joy comes.

But when our hearts condemn us,
help us atone for our sins with righteousness
and for our iniquities with mercy to the oppressed.

Then fill us with the power of the Spirit.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 97; 145; 124; 115
Dan. 4:19-27
1 John 3:19-4:6
Luke 4:14-30

Selected Verses

Ps. 97:11
Light dawns for the righteous,
            and joy for the upright in heart.

Dan. 4:27
“…Therefore, O king, may my counsel be acceptable to you: atone for your sins with righteousness, and your iniquities with mercy to the oppressed, so that your prosperity may be prolonged.”  [Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar]

1 John 3:19-20
And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Luke 4:14
Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding country.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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