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.

Awake or Asleep, to Live with Christ--Apr. 26, 2016


What shall we return to you, O God,
for all your bounty to us?

You have rescued us
from all our iniquities,
for you destined us not for
wrath, but for salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us,
so that whether we are awake or asleep
we may live with him.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 98; 146; 66; 116
Lev. 16:20-34
1 Thess. 5:1-11
Matt. 6:7-15

Selected Verses
Ps. 116:12
What shall I return to the LORD
          for all his bounty to me? 

Lev. 16:22
The goat shall bear on itself all [the iniquities of the people of Israel] to a barren region; and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness.

1 Thess. 5:9-10
For God has destined us not for wrath but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live with him. 

Matt. 6:13
“…And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one.  …”  [Jesus to the crowds on the mountain]

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