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 You Are; Who We Are--Oct. 20, 2017

[From Oct. 14, 2011 archive]

Lord Jesus, we know who you are--
the one who healed and cleansed,
brought good news to the poor.

And Jesus, you know who we are.
You have searched us and known us,
discerned our thoughts from far away.

There is nothing we can hide from you;
but by your grace we are what we are.
May your grace toward us not be vain!

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Jer. 38:14-28
1 Cor. 15:1-11
Matt. 11:1-6

Selected Verses
Ps. 139:1-2
O LORD, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
          you discern my thoughts from far away.

Jer. 38:14b
The king [Zedekiah] said to Jeremiah, "I have something to ask you; do not hide anything from me."

1 Cor. 15:10a
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain.

Matt. 11:4-5
Jesus answered [John's disciples], "Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.  …"

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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