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.

As God Is Kind to the Wicked--May 15, 2019


O God Most High,
we will be glad and exult in you,
abounding in thanksgiving, expecting
nothing in return, for you have given us
Christ Jesus the Lord. Help us live
our lives in him, loving
our enemies.

As you are kind even
to the ungrateful and wicked,
make us merciful and kind.  Then
we shall be your children,
and you will be
our God.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 99; 147:1-11; 9; 118
Jer. 30:18-22
Col. 1:24-2:7
Luke 6:27-38

Selected Verses
Ps. 9:2
I will be glad and exult in you;
          I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

Jer. 30:22
And you shall be my people,
          and I will be your God.

Col. 2:6-7
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Luke 6:35-36
"…But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.  Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.  Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. …"  [Jesus, to the crowd]

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