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.

Not the Thought of Your Wrath--Oct. 30, 2015


Not the thought of your wrath falling upon us,
O Holy God, gives me sadness of heart,
for I am mindful of your mercy
and of your steadfast love--
truly they have been
from of old.

My sadness
is from thinking
about the seeds of hate
that are sown in our hearts
and crowd out the good seeds
you in your love have sown there.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 84; 148; 25; 40
Neh. 2:1-20
Rev. 6:12-7:4
Matt. 13:24-30

Selected Verses
Ps. 25:6
Be mindful of your mercy, O LORD, and of your steadfast love,
          for they have been from of old. 

Neh. 2:2a
So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad, since you are not sick?  This can only be sadness of the heart."

Rev. 6:16-17
…calling to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"

Matt. 13:24-25
[Jesus] put before [his disciples] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  …" 
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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