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.

To Ride a Colt Never Ridden--August 15, 2015

[From August 13, 2011 archive]

Jesus rode a colt that had never been ridden,
the psalmist called for a song that had never been sung,

David suffered undeserved insults with restraint
such as no king had ever displayed,

and Paul testified before a hostile audience
how he had found a new life in you.

Prepare us to receive the new things
you have in store for us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 104; 149; 138; 98
2 Sam. 16:1-23
Acts 22:17-29
Mark 11:1-11

Selected Verses
Ps. 98:1a
O sing to the LORD a new song,
          for he has done marvelous things.

2 Sam. 16:11
David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "My own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite [Skhimei]!  Let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD has bidden him.  …"

Acts 22:17-19
"After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw Jesus saying to me, 'Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'  And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.  …'"  [Paul testifying to the mob outside the temple]

Mark 11:1-2
When [Jesus and his disciples] were approaching Jerusalem, at Bethphage and Bethany, near the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples and said to them, "Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden; untie it and bring it.  …"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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