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.

For Those Who Hew Our Wood--July 27, 2018


Gracious Lord, you redeem us from all our iniquities.
Shall our response be to force those, over whom
we hold power, to be hewers of our wood
and drawers of our water?

When they come to us in penitence,
shall we express confidence in them,
and say that they are full of goodness,
or shall we answer, "What is that to us?
Why should we care?  See to it yourself."

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 130; 148; 32; 139
Josh. 9:22-10:15
Rom. 15:14-24
Matt. 27:1-10

Selected Verses
Ps. 130:8
It is [The LORD] who will redeem Israel
          from all its iniquities.

Josh. 9:27
But on that day Joshua made [the Gibeonites] hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation and for the altar of the LORD, to continue to this day, in the place that he should choose.

Rom. 15:14-15
I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.  Nevertheless on some points I have written to you rather boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God…

Matt. 27:3-4
When Judas, his betrayer, saw that Jesus was condemned, he repented and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders.  He said, "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."  But they said, "What is that to us?  See to it yourself."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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