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.

Who Will Rescue Us?--June 29, 2022

[From July 1, 2020 archive]

 

God, help us take care of what you put in our minds. 

When we read Jesus’ parables, make us realize

he is speaking about us; that very often

we do not do the good we want; 

the evil we do not want

is what we do.

 

When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,

who will rescue us?  Thanks be to you, 

O God; you forgive our transgressions, 

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 65; 147:1-11; 125; 91

Numb. 22:41-23:12

Rom. 7:13-25

Matt. 21:33-46

 

Selected Verses 

Ps. 65:3

When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us,
          you forgive our transgressions.

 

Num. 23:12

[Balaam] answered, “Must I not take care to say what the LORD puts into my mouth?”

 

Rom. 7:19, 24-25

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. … Wretched man that I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

 

Matt. 21:45

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard [Jesus’] parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.


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