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 Our Salvation--June 3, 2015


God of our salvation, you console the downcast--
you are the one we must follow and fear,
whose commands we must keep,
whose voice must obey;
you we must serve
 and hold fast.

When we are
exhausted, our bodies
without rest, afflicted in every
way (disputes without and fears within),
remind us of Jesus, he who conquered suffering
and rejection, for he is the hope of the ends of the earth.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 65; 147:1-11; 125; 91
Deut. 13:1-11
2 Cor. 7:2-16
Luke 17:20-37

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. 

Deut. 13:4
The LORD your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.

2 Cor. 7:5-6
For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted in every way--disputes without and fears within.  But God, who consoles the downcast, consoled us by the arrival of Titus…

Luke 17:25
"…But first [the Son of Man] must endure much suffering and be rejected by this generation.  …"  [Jesus to his disciples]

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