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.

Joy for the Upright in Heart--May 6, 2013


 Light dawns for the righteous,
Jesus, and joy for the upright in heart.

You test us to know what is in our hearts;
may testing of our faith produce endurance.

For to want to save our life is to lose it,
to lose it for your sake is to find it.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 97; 145; 124; 115
Deut. 8:1-10
James 1:1-15
Luke 9:18-27

Selected Verses

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

Deut. 8:2
Remember the long way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, in order to humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commandments.

James 1:1-2
My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance

Luke 9:24
"…For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.  …"  [Jesus to his disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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