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.

July 22, 2008

I. Readings
Psalms 30, 86, 123
Joshua 8:1-22
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 26:47-56

II. Selections
Psalm 86:11
Teach me your way, O LORD,
that I may walk in your truth;
give me an undivided heart to revere your name.

Joshua 8:14
When the king of Ai saw [ the army of Israel in front of his city], he and all his people, the inhabitants of the city, hurried out early in the morning to the meeting place facing the Arabah to meet Israel in battle; but he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.

Romans 14:7
We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

Matthew 26:47
While [ Jesus] was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived; with him was a large crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people.

III. Meditation: Undivided

Teach us your way, O God,
that we may walk in your truth;
an undivided heart to revere your name.

Too much we rush to battle,
thinking to win our own victories,
not realizing an army lies in ambush behind.

Too often we join the mob,
feeling secure with our weapons,
forgetting it may be you whom we attack.

We do not live to ourselves,
and we do not die to ourselves;
whether we live or die, we belong to you.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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