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.

Whom Mortals Could Not Help--July 28, 2020


O Lord Jesus,
wise in what is good
and guileless in what is evil,
in your obedience, saving others
is more important than saving self.

Mortals could not help you; they
persecuted and oppressed you,
but God was moved to pity,
and raised you up to life.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 54; 146; 28; 99
Judg. 2:1-5, 11-23
Rom 16:17-27
Matt. 27:32-44

Selected Verses
Ps. 146:3
Do not put your trust in princes,
          in mortals, in whom there is no help.

Judg. 2:18
Whenever the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge, and he delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD would be moved to pity by their groaning because of those who persecuted and oppressed them. 

Rom 16:19
For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good and guileless in what is evil. 

Matt. 27:41-42a
In the same way the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking [Jesus], saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.  …”

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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