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.

Not Without a Shepherd--July 5, 2020


O God Our Shepherd,
when Moses was about to die,
you chose Joshua to lead your people;

when John was arrested,
you gave the people Jesus,
after Jesus, leaders like Paul.

You do not leave us
without a shepherd to lead us
in right paths for your name’s sake.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 108; 150; 66; 23
Num. 27:12-23
Acts 19:11-20
Mark 1:14-20

Selected Verses
Ps. 23:3b
[The LORD] leads me in right paths
          for his name’s sake.

Num. 27:15-17
Moses spoke to the LORD, saying, “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint someone over the congregation who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

Acts 19:11-20
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul… So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

Mark 1:14
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God…

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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