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.

To God Is the Glory--Sept. 5, 2018


[From Sept. 5, 2012 archive]

Shall I feel only the pain in my own body,
and shall I mourn only for myself?
To cover the pain, shall I seek
glory for myself only?

If I glorify myself, how vain the glory!
When I feel only my own pain,
how I cut myself off.

We ascribe all glory to you, O Holy One,
not to other mortals--and surely
no glory to ourselves.

Help us to love others as you love us,
to share in their pain, and to
mourn for their losses.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 96; 147:1-11; 132; 134
Job 12:1, 14:1-22
Acts 12:18-25
John 8:47-59

Selected Verses
Ps. 96:7
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
          ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Job 14:22
"…[Mortals] feel only the pain of their own bodies, and mourn only for themselves."
[Job to God]

Acts 12:22-23
The people kept shouting, "The voice of a god, and not of a mortal!"  And immediately, because [King Herod] had not given the glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.

John 8:54a
Jesus answered [the Pharisees], "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. …"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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