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.

Like an Obedient Child--Nov. 28, 2017


On every side the wicked prowl,
and vileness is exalted.
Pray break off the yoke  
and snap the bonds that bind me.

Make me like an obedient child,
conformed not to my desires,
but to your will--for to such
 as these your kingdom belongs.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 12; 146; 36; 7
Nahum 1:1-13
1 Peter 1:13-25
Matt. 19:13-22

Selected Verses
Ps. 12:8
On every side the wicked prowl,
          as vileness is exalted among humankind.

Nahum 1:13
"…And now I will break off his yoke from you
          and snap the bonds that bind you."
[The LORD speaking through Nahum]

1 Peter 1:14
Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 

Matt. 19:14
"…but Jesus said [to his disciples], "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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