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.

In the Watches of the Night--Feb. 5, 2022

[From Feb. 4, 2006 archive]

 

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, 

and with joyful lips my mouth praises you 

when I think of you on my bed, and meditate 

on you in the watches of the night.

 

Lord, you find us; we do not find you.

You come to us; we do not go to you.

Why should we hide from you

or resist your will for us?

 

May we work to see that no one 

fails to obtain your grace; 

that no root of bitterness 

springs up and causes trouble, 

lest through it many become defiled.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 63; 149; 125; 90

Gen. 24:28-38, 49-51

Heb. 12:12-29

John 7:14-36

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 63:5-6

My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast,

          and my mouth praises you with joyful lips

when I think of you on my bed,

          and meditate on you in the watches of the night…

 

Gen. 24:50

Then Laban and Bethuel answered, “The thing comes from the LORD; we cannot speak to you anything bad or good.  …”

 

Heb. 12:15

See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and through it many become defiled.

 

John 7:36

“……What does [Jesus] mean by saying, ‘You will search for me and you will not find me’ and ‘Where I am, you cannot come’?”  [Those who wanted to arrest Jesus, asking one another]


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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