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.

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Hill?--July 23, 2014


Who may abide in your tent, O God;
who may dwell on your holy hill?
And who but you may decide?
After we read all the verses,
all of the blessings and curses,
written in Moses' book of the law,
are we more ready to pass judgment
than were the council members
who condemned Jesus?
God, may we never put
a stumbling block, never set
a hindrance, in the way of another.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 15; 147:7-11; 48; 4
Josh. 8:30-35
Rom. 14:13-23
Matt. 26:57-68

Selected Verses
Ps. 15:1
O LORD, who may abide in your tent?
          Who may dwell on your holy hill?

Josh. 8:34
And afterwards [Joshua] read all the words of the law, blessings and curses, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 

Rom. 14:13
Let us therefore no longer pass judgment on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. 

Matt. 26:66
"…What is your verdict?"  They answered, "He [Jesus] deserves death."  [Caiaphas to the chief priests and the whole council]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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