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.

Waiting for a Sign from Heaven--Aug. 7, 2017

[From August 3, 2009 archive]

God, how do we know you are with us?
How do we know you approve of our plans?
Won’t you give us a sign?

Perhaps it is not the clear signal that we would prefer,
but we know we can find you where the poor perish,
where the needy have been forgotten. 
If we go to be with them,
 you will be with us there.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 62; 145; 73; 9
2 Sam. 7:1-17
Acts 18:1-11
Mark 8:11-21

Selected Verses
Psalm 9:18
For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
            nor the hope of the poor perish forever.

2 Samuel 7:3-5
Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you.”  But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in?

Acts 18:9-10
One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.”

Mark 8:11-12a
The Pharisees came and began to argue with [Jesus], asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him.  And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation ask for a sign?  …”

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