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.


Deliver Us--May 14, 2011


God, for your name’s sake, from the lions’ den
deliver us.

When we are tempted to imitate the evil all around us,
deliver us from evil.

When we want to confine your new wine to old wineskins,
deliver us from worn-out ways.

When we stray from the right paths upon which you lead us,
deliver us from the wilderness.

God, that faithfully we may serve you,
into your loving arms deliver us.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 92; 149; 23; 114
Dan. 6:16-28
3 John 1-15
Luke 5:27-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 23:3b
He leads me in right paths
     for his name’s sake.

Dan. 6:16
Then the king gave the command, and Daniel was brought and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you faithfully serve, deliver you!”

3 John 11a
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good.

Luke 5:38
But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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