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.

We Call on You--July 26, 2010


I. Readings
Psalms 57, 145, 85, 47
Joshua 24:16-33
Romans 16:1-16
Matthew 27:24-31

II. Selections
Psalm 145:18
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
      to all who call on him in truth.

Joshua 24:22
Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the LORD, to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.”

Romans 16:1-2
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Lord as is fitting for the saints, and help her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor of many and of myself as well.

Matthew 27:24
So when Pilate saw that he could do nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took some water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s [Jesus’] blood; see to it yourselves.”

III. Meditation

You are near to all who call on you—
to all who call on you in truth.

Pilate tried to declare his own innocence,
but he did not convince even himself.

We claim that we have chosen to serve you,
but we do not always act as if we have.

Make us more like Phoebe, commended by Paul
as a benefactor of many, including himself.

For we call on you to help us, in truth we call;
be near to us; strengthen us to do your will.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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