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.

When Brought Low, You Save--Aug. 6, 2015

[From Aug. 6, 2009 archive]

Lacking courage to say to Uriah
what he should have said,
David made small talk.

Peter was terrified
at the transfiguration.
He too made small talk.

Would-be exorcists tried to impress
by dropping righteous names;
their words lacked authority.

Remind us, O God, that neither name-dropping
nor polite palaver curry favor with you—
you protect the simple; when we
are brought low, you save us.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 116; 147:12-20; 26; 130
2 Sam. 11:1-27
Acts 19:11-20
Mark 9:2-13

Selected Verses
Ps. 116:6
The LORD protects the simple;
            when I was brought low, he saved me.

2 Sam. 11:7
When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the people fared, and how the war was going.

Acts 19:13
Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

Mark 9:6
[Peter] did not know what to say [to Jesus], for [James, John, and he] were terrified.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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