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.


Armor Against the Powers of Evil--Jan. 5, 2012



Does evil come upon me
because you are absent from me?

Do you permit the evil to come,
giving us the armor to stand against it?

What will I do when the waters close
over me and the deep surrounds me?

I do not know, but let me praise
your great and awesome name.

There can be no better armor
against the powers of evil.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 99; 147:12-20; 96; 110
Jonah 2:2-9
Eph. 6:10-20
John 11:17-27, 38-44

Selected Verses
Ps. 99:3
Let [all the peoples] praise your great and awesome name.
      Holy is he!

Jonah 2:5a
The waters closed in over me;
      the deep surrounded me…

Eph. 6:11
Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

John 11:21
Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. …"
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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