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.

When to be Angry--July 15, 2021

[From July 16, 2009 archive]

 

Jonathan was angry at his father Saul over his treatment of David.

Paul was angry at Elymas for making crooked your straight paths.

Jesus was angry at the Pharisees because of their hardness of heart.

 

What makes me angry, and how can I be sure my anger is directed

at the sin rather than at the sinner?  You have given me a goodly

heritage—pray give me also the ability to control my temper.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 97; 147:12-20; 16; 62

1 Sam. 20:24-42

Acts 13:1-12

Mark 2:23-3:6

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 16:5-6

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

            you hold my lot.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

            I have a goodly heritage.

 

1 Sam. 20:34

Jonathan rose from the table in fierce anger and ate no food on the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, and because his father had disgraced him.

 

Acts 13:9-10

But Saul, also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at [Elymas the magician] and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord?…”

 

Mark 3:5

[Jesus] looked around at [the Pharisees] with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”  He stretched it out, and his hand was restored.


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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