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 Delight in Your Will--Dec. 17, 2018


God of grace and peace in abundance,
even if you seem to hide your face,
we will wait and hope in you.

Jesus prayed for your will to be done
when he faced a fate more terrible
than any we can imagine.

Should we not delight to do it?
Put your law in our heart,
your law of love.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 122; 145; 40; 67
Isa. 8:16-9:1
2 Peter 1:1-11
Luke 22:39-53

Selected Verses
Ps 40:8
 I delight to do your will, O my God;
          your law is within my heart.”

Isa. 8:17
I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him.

2 Peter 1:2
May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Luke 22:41-42
Then [Jesus] withdrew from [his disciples] about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done." 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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