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.

In the Valley of Decision--Nov. 27, 2017

[From Nov. 23, 2015 archive]

In the valley of decision,
my soul waits for you, O God.
Forgive my hard-hearted ways,
for my hope is from you, a new
birth into a living hope through
the resurrection from the dead
of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 62; 145; 73; 9
Joel 3:1-2, 9-17
1 Peter 1:1-12
Matt. 19:1-12

Selected Verses
Ps. 62:5
For God alone my soul waits in silence,
          for my hope is from him. 

Joel 3:14
Multitudes, multitudes,
          in the valley of decision!
For the day of the LORD is near
          in the valley of decision. 

1 Peter 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…

Matt. 19:8
[Jesus] said to [the Pharisees], "It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  …"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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