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.


You Bear Us Up, We Are Yours--May 26, 2011


O God of our salvation,
Blessed be your name.
You daily bear us up,
you restore our fortunes,
you rebuild our lives.

For all your blessings to us,
shall we ask you to leave us?

No, we live in you,
not to ourselves;
and whether we live
or whether we die
we are yours.


Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Jer. 33:1-13
Rom. 14:1-12
Luke 8:26-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 68:19
Blessed be the Lord,
      who daily bears us up;
      God is our salvation. Selah

Jer. 33:7
I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. [The LORD to Jeremiah]

Rom. 14:7-8
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.

Luke 8:37
Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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