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.

Ask in Boldness, but Humble your Hearts--Apr. 23, 2015


In your goodness, O God, you provide for the needy;
if we are bold enough in Christ to ask anything
according to his will, he hears us.

Yet when we let down our nets
and you fill them for us, it is all to easy to take
all the credit ourselves.  Help us to humble our hearts.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Dan. 5:13-30
1 John 5:13-21
Luke 5:1-11

Selected Verses
Ps. 68:10
…your flock found a dwelling in [your heritage];
          in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

Dan. 5:22
"…And you, Belshazzar his son, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this!  …"  [Daniel, interpreting the writing on the wall]

1 John 5:14
And this is the boldness we have in [the Son of God], that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 

Luke 5:5-6
Simon answered [Jesus], “Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing.  Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.”  When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets were beginning to break.

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