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.

How We Know You Are God--July 30, 2017

[From July 24, 2011 archive]

How shall we know you are God?
Perhaps by being still before you,

realizing how the mighty have fallen,
their weapons of war perished with them;

or by associating with the lowly, who
do not claim to be wiser than they are;

and above all by caring for the stranger
and the prisoner and the naked and the sick.

Then perhaps we will understand
why your name is exalted in the earth.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 67; 150; 46; 93
2 Sam. 1:17-27
Rom. 12:9-21
Matt. 25:31-46

Selected Verses
Ps. 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God!
          I am exalted among the nations,
          I am exalted in the earth.”

2 Sam. 1:27
How the mighty have fallen,
          and the weapons of war perished!

Rom. 12:16
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Matt. 25:38
“…‘And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing?  And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’…"  [The righteous question the king in Jesus' parable on the judgment of the nations]

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