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.

Your Name Alone Exalted--Sept. 21, 2018


Your glory, O God, is above earth and heaven;
may your name alone be exalted.
We praise your name.

Forgive me when I burn with jealous anger,
when I love human glory more than
glory that comes from you.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Esth. 1:1-4, 10-19
Acts 17:1-15
John 12:36b-43


Selected Verses
Ps. 148:13
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
          for his name alone is exalted;
          his glory is above earth and heaven. 

Esth. 1:12
But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king's command conveyed by the eunuchs.  At this the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.

Acts 17:4-5a
Some of [those who heard Paul preach] were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.  But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. 

John 12:42-43
Nevertheless many, even of the authorities, believed in [Jesus].  But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory that comes from God.

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