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 of Everlasting Love--Dec. 28, 2021

 

We praise you, and with our whole hearts

we give you thanks, O God of compassion.

 

Though we may think you have hidden your face, 

a woman is more likely to forget her nursing child, 

or a shepherd his sheep, than you are to forget us.

 

We give you thanks, O God of everlasting love.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 2; 146; 110; 111

Isaiah 49:13-23

Isaiah 54:1-13

Matt. 18:1-14 

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 111:1

Praise the LORD!
I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart,
          in the company of the upright, in the congregation.

 

Isaiah 49:15

Can a woman forget her nursing child,
          or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
          yet I will not forget you.

 

Isaiah 54:8

In overflowing wrath for a moment
          I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,
          says the LORD, your Redeemer.

 

Matt. 18:12

“…What do you think?  If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?  …”  [Jesus, to his disciples] 


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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