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.

Wisdom in Our Secret Hearts--Jan. 17, 2014


 The inclination of the thoughts of our hearts is to evil;
do not let the deceitfulness of sin harden us.
You desire truth in the inward being;
fill us with your good wine
and teach us wisdom
in our secret
hearts.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 51; 148; 142; 65
Gen. 6:1-8
Heb. 3:12-19
John 2:1-12

Selected Verses

Ps. 51:6
You desire truth in the inward being;
          therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

Gen. 6:5
The LORD saw that the wickedness of humankind was great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.

Heb. 3:13
But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

John 2:9b-10
…the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, "Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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