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.

When in Distress We Call--Jan. 19, 2020



God and Father of us all,
Sometimes we are left alone,
or we feel crushed in a crowd,
and in distress we call to you,
and you relieve our burden,
and, freeing our hands,
you rescue us.

You are above all,
and through all,
and in all.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 15; 150; 81; 113
Gen. 7:1-10, 17-23
Eph. 4:1-16
Mark 3:7-19

Selected Verses
Ps. 81:5b-7a
I hear a voice I had not known:
“I relieved your shoulder of the burden;
          your hands were freed from the basket.
In distress you called, and I rescued you…”

Gen. 7:23b
Only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark.

Eph. 4:6
[There is] one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

Mark 3:9
[Jesus] told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him…

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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