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.

Hands Stretched, in the Midst of Trouble--May 3, 2013


 In the midst of trouble you preserved against wrath,
sustained your people in a desert land,
shielded them in a howling wilderness waste,
guarded them as the apple of your eye.

Merciful God, as Jesus was a source of healing
for those who stretched hands for help,
be with us to pursue peace and mutual upbuilding,
and to heal the sick and suffering needy.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 96; 148; 49; 138
Deut. 31:30-32:14
Rom. 14:13-23
Luke 8:40-56

Selected Verses

Ps. 138:7
Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
          you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
you stretch out your hand,
          and your right hand delivers me.

Deut. 32:8
[The LORD] sustained [Israel] in a desert land,
          in a howling wilderness waste;
he shielded him, cared for him,
          guarded him as the apple of his eye.

Rom. 14:19
Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.

Luke 8:47
When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before [Jesus], she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed.

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