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.

Deliver Us from Our Fears--Nov. 18, 2013


 Mighty God,
we are told that both
the heaven and the earth will
flee from before your great throne;
yet we know that you are good to all,
that your compassion is over
all you have made.

Jesus touched
his disciples and told
them to get up and to not be
afraid; may we feel his hand
upon us, to deliver us
from our fears.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 57; 145; 85; 47
Ezra 7:27-28, 8:21-36
Rev. 20:7-15
Matt. 17:1-13

Selected Verses

Ps. 145:9
The Lord is good to all,
          and his compassion is over all that he has made.

Ezra 8:31
Then we left the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem; the hand of our God was upon us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes along the way.

Rev. 20:11
Then I saw a great white throne and the one who sat on it; the earth and the heaven fled from his presence, and no place was found for them.

Matt. 17:7
But Jesus came and touched [Peter, James, and John], saying, "Get up and do not be afraid."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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