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.

God, My Strength--Dec. 2, 2021

[From Dec. 2, 2015 archive]

 

Lo, you are the one 

who forms the mountains, 

creates the wind, 

reveals your thoughts to mortals, 
makes the morning darkness, 

and treads on the heights of the earth—

I love you, O God, my strength! 

 

Teach me to grow 

in the grace and knowledge 

of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, 

that I may be one of your people, 

producing the fruits of your kingdom. 

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62 

Amos 4:6-13 

2 Peter 3:11-18 

Matt. 21:33-46 

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 18:1 

I love you, O LORD, my strength. 

 

Amos 4:13 

For lo, the one who forms the mountains, creates the wind,
        reveals his thoughts to mortals,
makes the morning darkness,
        and treads on the heights of the earth —
        the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name! 

 

2 Peter 3:18a 

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

 

Matt. 21:43 

“…Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.  …”  [Jesus, to the chief priests and Pharisees]

 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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