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.

From the Hand of the Wicked--Jan. 21, 2013


 A great multitude followed you, Jesus;
but you had to depart from them.
Do not depart from me, now.

Guard my life; rescue me
from the hand of the wicked,
that redeemed I may return to you.

According to the measure of your gift,
give me grace, O Christ; sweep
away my sins like a cloud.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 135; 145; 97; 112
Isa. 44:6-8, 21-23
Eph. 4:1-16
Mark 3:7-19a

Selected Verses

Ps. 97:12
The LORD loves those who hate evil;
          he guards the lives of his faithful;
          he rescues them from the hand of the wicked.

Isa. 44:22
I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud,
          and your sins like mist;
return to me, for I have redeemed you.

Eph. 4:7
But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Mark 3:7
Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him…

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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