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.

Swept Away with the Wicked--June 26, 2018


[From June 26, 2012 archive]

O God, sometimes it seems the righteous
are established like a strong mountain;
then sometimes, because of the sins of the
wicked, the righteous are swept away.

Perhaps, dear God, you turn your face
away to let this happen; or is it that
you turn your face away because you
cannot bear to see it happen?

We do not know, but for you all things
are possible.  Give us faith, and
reckon faith to us as righteousness, and
do not let us be swept away by sin.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86
Num. 16:20-35
Rom. 4:1-12
Matt. 19:23-30

Selected Verses
Ps. 30:7
By your favor, O LORD,
          you had established me as a strong mountain;
you hid your face;
          I was dismayed.
The LORD loves those who hate evil;
          he guards the lives of his faithful;
          he rescues them from the hand of the wicked. 

Num. 16:26
[Moses] said to the congregation, "Turn away from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, or you will be swept away for all their sins."

Rom. 4:9
Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised?  We say, "Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness."

Matt. 19:25-26
When the disciples heard [how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom], they were greatly astounded and said, "Then who can be saved?"  But Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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