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.

Renew the Face of the Ground, O God--June 18, 2016


Send forth your Spirit, O God,
and renew the face of the ground.
It is discouraging to read that we are
all under the power of sin, but we
do confess that sin is powerful.

Sin is strong, like the people
whom the Israelites feared,
but Jesus was stronger.
He cured the crowds
who followed him.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 104; 149; 138; 98
Num. 13:31-14:25
Rom. 3:9-20
Matt. 19:1-12
       
Selected Verses
Ps. 104:30
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
          and you renew the face of the ground.

Num. 13:31
Then the men who had gone up with [Caleb] said, "We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we." 

Rom. 3:9
What then?  Are we any better off?  No, not at all; for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin…

Matt. 19:2
Large crowds followed [Jesus], and he cured them there [in the part of Judea beyond the Jordan].
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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