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.

In the Day of Our Distress--June 16, 2020


The disciples were distressed, Jesus,
when you said you would be killed.
Who could blame them?

My times of distress are nothing
compared to theirs, yet my cries
for relief are urgent.

Expecting immediate results,
and seeing none, it is easy to
think you are hiding.

Lord, grant us faith to trust
in your eternal power and
divine nature.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 42; 146; 102; 133
Num. 11:1-23
Rom. 1:16-25
Matt. 17:22-27

Selected Verses
Ps. 102:2
 Do not hide your face from me
          in the day of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
          answer me speedily in the day when I call.

Num. 11:23
The LORD said to Moses, “Is the Lord's power limited?  Now you shall see whether my word will come true for you or not.”

Rom. 1: 20a
Ever since the creation of the world [God’s] eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. 

Matt. 17:22-23
As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to [his disciples], “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.”  And they were greatly distressed.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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