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.

Gathered in God’s Presence--Nov. 4, 2020


 O Holy One, who are and were, you are just.

We stand up, stand straight, and praise you.

 

And gather us together, gather, 

lest we be like drifting chaff

that the wind drives away.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 89:1-18; 147:1-11; 1; 33

Zeph. 2:1-15

Rev. 16:1-11

Luke 13:10-17

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 1:4

The wicked are not so,
          but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

 

Zeph. 2:1-2

Gather together, gather,
     O shameless nation,

before you are driven away
     like the drifting chaff…

 

Rev. 16:5

And I heard the angel of the waters say, “You are just, O Holy One, who are and were, for you have judged these things  …”

 

Luke 13:12-13

When Jesus saw [the woman who was bent over], he called her over and said, “Woman, you are set free from your ailment.”  When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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