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.

Lord of the Living and the Dead--July 21, 2020


Lord Jesus, at your arrest your disciples ran and hid,  
but you had nowhere to flee, this way or that.

When we have nowhere to escape,
our eyes turn to you.

You are Lord of both the living
and the dead.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 123; 146; 30; 86
Josh. 8:1-22
Rom. 14:1-12
Matt. 26:47-56

Selected Verses
Ps. 123:2
As the eyes of servants
          look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
          to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
          until he has mercy upon us.

Josh. 8:20
So when the men of Ai looked back, the smoke of the city was rising to the sky.  They had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers. 

Rom. 14:9
For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

Matt. 26:55-56
At that hour Jesus said to the crowds, “Have you come out with swords and clubs to arrest me as though I were a bandit?  Day after day I sat in the temple teaching, and you did not arrest me. 
But all this has taken place, so that the scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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