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.

A New Heart and a New Spirit--June 6, 2019


Blessed be the Lord,
who daily bears us up.
God, you are our salvation.

Cast away from me the transgressions
that I have committed against you;
give me a new heart and a new spirit,
that in hope I may approach you.
Then having received your mercy,
help me be merciful to others.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 47; 147:12-20; 68; 113
Ezek. 18:1-4, 19-32
Heb. 7:18-28
Luke 10:25-37

Selected Verses
Ps. 68:19
Blessed be the Lord,
          who daily bears us up;
          God is our salvation.     Selah 

Ezek. 18:31a
Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!

Heb. 7:18-19
There is, on the one hand, the abrogation of an earlier commandment because it was weak and ineffectual (for the law made nothing perfect); there is, on the other hand, the introduction of a better hope, through which we approach God.

Luke 10:36-37
"…Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?”  [The lawyer] said, "The one who showed him mercy."  Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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