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.

Was It only Pharisees, or also Me?--Dec. 11, 2015


Was it only Pharisees you had in mind, Jesus,
when you spoke of looking righteous on the outside,
but being full of hypocrisy and lawlessness on the inside?
You are my Lord; when I consider how I have fared,
I know that I have no good apart from you.
Be with me, that I may hold fast
until in all your power
you come.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 102; 148; 130; 16
Hag. 1:1-15
Rev. 2:18-29
Matt. 23:27-39

Selected Verses
Ps. 16:2
 I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord;
          I have no good apart from you.”

Hag. 1:5
Now therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider how you have fared. 

Rev. 2:25
"…only hold fast to what you have until I come. …"  [Words to be written to the church in Thyatira, attributed to the Son of God]

Matt. 23:28
"…So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."  [Jesus to the scribes and Pharisees]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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