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.

Astonishment and Hope--Jan. 26, 2022

[From Jan.26 , 2012 archive]

 

Lord, truly you astonish us and give us hope.

We who do not know where we are going—

hardly even where we have come from—

are astonished at your awesome deeds.

 

For on our behalf you lived on earth

to show us what God's love is like;

on our behalf you entered heaven;

with God you have delivered us.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 65; 147:1-11; 125; 91

Gen. 16:1-14

Heb. 9:15-28

John 5:19-29

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 65:5

 By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance, 
          O God of our salvation; 
 you are the hope of all the ends of the earth 
          and of the farthest seas.

 

Gen. 16:8

And [the angel of the LORD] said, “Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?”  She said, “I am running away from my mistress Sarai.”

 

Heb. 9:24

For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.

 

John 5:20 

“…The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished.  …”  [Jesus to his critics]

 

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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