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.

For the Victims of Warfare--May 13, 2018


[From May 8, 2016 archive]

Great is your steadfast love, Jesus,
and your faithfulness endures forever.

Earth and heaven are shaking from warfare;
you have observed the misery of war’s victims;
you have heard their cry and know their sufferings.
How can we rejoice in anything, even our own salvation,
when all this pain and carnage are inflicted on the helpless?

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 93; 150; 136; 117
Exod. 3:1-12
Heb. 12:18-29
Luke 10:17-24
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 117:2
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
            and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD!

Exod. 3:7
Then the LORD said [to Moses], “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters.  Indeed, I know their sufferings…”

Heb. 12:26
At that time [God’s] voice shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." 

Luke 10:20
“…Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  [Jesus to the seventy upon their return]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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