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.

What Does It Profit Us?--May 27, 2019


O Lord our God,
you give us the choice:
yield to the lure of our desires,
or trust in you, our help and shield;
satisfy our yearnings with food and drink,
or by every word that comes from your mouth;
strive to gain the whole world, or forfeit ourselves.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 97; 145; 124; 115
Deut. 8:1-10
James 1:1-15
Luke 9:18-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 115:9
O Israel, trust in the LORD!
          He is their help and their shield. 

Deut. 8:3
[The LORD your God] humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 

James 1:14
But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it…

Luke 9:25
"…What does it profit [those who want to save their lives] if they gain the whole world, but lose or forfeit themselves? …"  [Jesus, to his disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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