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.


Much Less Will You Fail--May 22, 2011


We give you thanks, O God of heaven,
for your steadfast love endures forever.

We would not substitute a stone
for the bread that a child requests;

would not ruin the poor with lying words
even when the plea of the needy is right.

Much less will you fail to answer our needs.
Comfort our hearts and strengthen them
in every good work and word.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 93; 150; 136; 117
Isa. 32:1-8
2 Thes. 2:13-17
Matt. 7:7-14

Selected Verses
Ps. 136:26
O give thanks to the God of heaven,
      for his steadfast love endures forever.

Isa. 32:7
The villainies of villains are evil;
      they devise wicked devices
to ruin the poor with lying words,
      even when the plea of the needy is right.

2 Thes. 2:16-17
Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Matt. 7:9
Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone?
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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