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.

Close the Doors, O God--Nov. 6, 2019

Lover of righteousness and justice,
fill us with your love, so there is in us
no room for unrighteousness and injustice.
Close the doors on our cynicism and mistrust;
let the earth be full of your steadfast love, O God.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33
Neh. 13:4-22
Rev. 12:1-12
Matt. 13:53-58

Selected Verses
Ps. 33:5
[The LORD] loves righteousness and justice;
          the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD.

Neh. 13:19a
When it began to be dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut and gave orders that they should not be opened until after the sabbath.

Rev. 12:7b-8
The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.

Matt. 13:56b-57a
“…Where then did this man [Jesus] get all this?”  And [the people in his home town synagogue] took offense at him.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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