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.

You Set Free from Bondage--May 21, 2013


[From May 24, 2005 archive]

My soul thirsts for you, for the living God. 
When shall I come and behold your face? 

There are times when I cannot find you,
when I want to say with Naomi that you,
the Almighty, have dealt bitterly with me;

but, without regard to times or days or seasons,
you, Lord, are the one who sets free from bondage.

Set me free from the bondage of despair and self-pity;
give me strength to follow your teachings, that I may fight
the good fight, that I may have faith and a good conscience.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133
Ruth 1:19-2:13
1 Tim. 1:18-2:8
Luke 13:10-17

Selected Verses

Ps. 42:2
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?

Ruth 1:20
[Naomi] said to [the women of Bethlehem],
“Call me no longer Naomi [that is, “Pleasant”]
            call me Mara [that is, “Bitter”],
            for the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

1 Tim. 1:18-19a
I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, having faith and a good conscience.

Luke 13:16
"…And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?"  [Jesus to the leader of the synagogue]

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