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.

Shake the Place Where We Gather--April 27, 2019

[From April 30, 2011 archive]

Lord Jesus, we are not alone;
you and the Father are with us.

You tend your flock,
and we shall not want.
You spread for us a rich feast.

Fill us with your Holy Spirit;
and, when we gather in prayer,
shake the place where we gather.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 92; 149; 23; 114
Isa. 25:1-9
Acts 4:13-31
John 16:16-33

Selected Verses
Ps. 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Isa. 25:6
On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples
            a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
            of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

Acts 4:31
When [Peter, John, and their friends] had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.

John 16:32b
“…Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.  …”  [Jesus to his disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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