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.

When the Trees Sing for Joy--June 14, 2017


When is it, God, that the trees
of the forest will sing for joy
in anticipation of your coming?

How long will you hover over us,
watching as we learn to find our way?

We look to you for easy, quick solutions;
but though you are with us, if we follow you
there may be shipwrecks when we are adrift at sea,
hunger and thirst, sleepless nights, dangers of all kinds, 
before the trees of the forest will sing for joy at your coming.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 96; 147:1-11; 132; 134
Deut. 31:30-32:14
2 Cor. 11:21b-33
Luke 19:11-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 96:12b-13a
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
          before the LORD; for he is coming,
          for he is coming to judge the earth. 

Deut. 32:11-12a
As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers over its young; as it spreads its wings, takes them up, and bears them aloft on its pinions, the LORD alone guided [Jacob, i.e., the Israelites] …

2 Cor. 11:25b-27
Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked. 

Luke 19:11
As [his disciples] were listening to this, [Jesus] went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)