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.

Where We Put Our Trust--Oct. 19, 2019


Throughout all time, Most High,
cruelty, violence, killing have raged;
all day long enemies trample down victims;
no one can be absolutely safe from violent death,
certainly not the members of your kingdom.

Nonetheless, I will put my trust in Christ,
and that all will be made alive in him.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 56; 149; 118; 111
Jer. 52:1-34
1 Cor. 15:12-29
Matt. 11:7-15

Selected Verses
Ps. 56:2-3
…my enemies trample on me all day long,
          for many fight against me.
O Most High, when I am afraid,
          I put my trust in you.

Jer. 52:10-11
The king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, and also killed all the officers of Judah at Riblah.  He put out the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in fetters, and the king of Babylon took him to Babylon, and put him in prison until the day of his death.

1 Cor. 15:22
…for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. 

Matt. 11:12
“…From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.  …”  [Jesus, to the crowds]

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