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.

Near to All who Call on You--June 23, 2014


Loving God, you are just in all your ways,
kind in all your doings, and near to
all who call on you in truth.

If we ask who is allowed
to approach you, we remember
 that Jesus said your kingdom belongs
to little children and to those who are like
little children in their faith; and that Paul said
we are justified by faith.  Be near to us, we pray.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 135; 145; 97; 112
Numb. 16:1-19
Rom. 3:21-31
Matt. 19:13-22

Selected Verses
Ps. 145:17-18
The LORD is just in all his ways,
          and kind in all his doings.
The LORD is near to all who call on him,
          to all who call on him in truth. 

Numb. 16:1-19
Then [Moses] said to Korah and all his company, "In the morning the LORD will make known who is his, and who is holy, and who will be allowed to approach him; the one whom he will choose he will allow to approach him. …"

Rom. 3:28
For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law. 

Matt. 19:14
…but Jesus said [to his disciples], "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." 
Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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