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.

Awesome God, Pardon Our Stiff Necks--Apr. 21, 2016


Awesome God, give your people power and strength;
pardon our stiff necks, our iniquity and sin,
and take us for your inheritance.

May we seek reconciliation
with those we have offended
before we come to worship you.
And console us with your presence
when we are separated from those we love.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Exod. 34:1-17
1 Thess. 2:13-20
Matt. 5:21-26

Selected Verses
Ps. 68:35
Awesome is God in his sanctuary,
          the God of Israel;
          he gives power and strength to his people.
Blessed be God!

Exod. 34:9
[Moses] said, "If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, I pray, let the Lord go with us.  Although this is a stiff-necked people, pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance."

1 Thess. 2:17
As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you--in person, not in heart--we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. 

Matt. 5:23-24
“…So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.  …”  [Jesus to the crowds on the mountain]

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