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.

Sifted Like Wheat--June 28, 2013


 The temper of a horse or mule
must be curbed with bit and bridle;
donkeys stray, young men lose their way,
and hotheads quarrel, even with their kinfolk.

Satan has sifted us all like wheat, and our
own faith has failed; but, Lord Jesus,
turn us back to strengthen our
brothers and our sisters.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
1 Sam. 9:1-14
Acts 7:17-29
Luke 22:31-38

Selected Verses

Ps. 32:9
Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
          whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle,
          else it will not stay near you.

2 Sam. 9:5
When they came to the land of Zuph, Saul said to the boy who was with him, “Let us turn back, or my father will stop worrying about the donkeys and worry about us.”

Acts 7:26
"…The next day [Moses] came to some of [his kinfolk] as they were quarreling and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you wrong each other?’ …"  [Stephen, speaking before the high priest]

Luke 22:31-32
“Simon, Simon, listen!  Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”  [Jesus to Simon Peter]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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