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.

When My Foot Is Slipping--Dec. 18, 2012


 I do not remember to put on
the whole armor that you provide,
and I grow irritable and lose my temper.
Hold me up, O God, when my foot is slipping.

As a shoot grows up from the stump,
so you have always supplied a remnant
to be your faithful servants. 

More than that, you gave us Jesus;
in your great love, you gave us Jesus.
Be with me, Lord Jesus.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 33; 146; 85; 94

Isa. 11:1-9
Eph. 6:10-20
John 3:16-21

Selected Verses

Ps. 94:18

When I thought, "My foot is slipping,"
            your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up.

Isa. 11:1
A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
            and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

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 3:16
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.  …"  [Jesus to Nicodemus]


Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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