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.

Not for Condemnation--March 17, 2011


I am part of a rebellious people, O God.
Still, I believe that you will not forsake us;

for you gave us Jesus, not for condemnation,
but for salvation. Help us respond by our labor

and—when the time comes—by resting in you.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 27; 147:12-20; 126; 102
Deut. 9:23-10:5
Heb. 4:1-10
John 3:16-21

Selected Verses
Ps. 27:10
If my father and mother forsake me,
      the LORD will take me up.

Deut. 9:24
You have been rebellious against the LORD as long as he has known you.

Heb. 4:10
…for those who enter God’s rest also cease from their labors as God did from his.

John 3:16-21
“…Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. …” [Jesus to Nicodemus]
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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