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.

You Do Not Hide in Darkness--Sept. 9, 2021

[From Sept. 12, 2019 archive]

 

O, you do not hide from me 

in clouds or thick darkness, 

God—at least, not often—

but neither do I hear you

speaking in clear words.

 

That said, I often have a sense 

of your being at work in me, 

ready to enable me to work

and do your good pleasure. 

 

Forgive the many times

I fail to heed your call.

 

Lectionary Readings

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

1 Kings 18:1-19

Phil. 2:12-30

Matt. 2:13-23

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 97:2

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
          righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

 

1 Kings 18:1

After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.”

 

Phil. 2:13

…for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 

Matt. 2:19-20

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 97:2

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;
          righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

 

1 Kings 18:1

After many days the word of the LORD came to Elijah, in the third year of the drought, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab; I will send rain on the earth.”

 

Phil. 2:13

…for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

 

Matt. 2:19-20

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”


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