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.

Your Grace, Not My Doing--May 22, 2020


God, I want you to guard my feet,
and not to be cut off in darkness;

I want your regard for me,
not to have you far away.

I want to act on your words,
avoiding a disastrous fall.

But just when I think this is all up to me,
you remind me that by your grace I am saved.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 96; 148; 49; 138
1 Sam. 2:1-10
Eph. 2:1-10
Matt. 7:22-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 138:6
 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly;
          but the haughty he perceives from far away.

1 Sam. 2:9
"[The LORD] will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail.  …”  [Hannah, praying]

Eph. 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Matt. 7:26-27
“…And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall!”  [Jesus, ending his sermon to the crowd on the mountain]

No comments:

Post a Comment