63A*
A Call to Worship
All Saints' Day Year A 2017
Psalm 34: 1-10, 22

We come to join with other pilgrims in the faith to praise the LORD our God.
We come together to praise our God, because praise is a shared experience.

We come to join with other travellers on our faith journey to thank our God.
We come together to thank our God, because we need each other’s support.

We come to join with other people who have experienced the same fears and
doubts as we have on our life’s travels; and to give thanks for answered prayers.
We come together to celebrate and rejoice in the blessedness of sharing our
struggles; for the generosity of God’s liberating mercy and forgiving love as we
each seek to faithfully serve our God; and to love our neighbours as ourselves. Amen.

Psalm 34: 1-10, 22
A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended
to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.

1 I will praise the LORD at all times. I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together.
4 I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
6 In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.

7 For the angel of the LORD is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
9 Fear the LORD, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing.

22 But the LORD will redeem those who serve him.
No one who takes refuge in him will be condemned.

Prayers of Thankfulness and Praise
All Saints' Day Year A 2017
Psalm 34: 1-10, 22

God of wisdom and healing hope: we come to join with other pilgrims in the
journey of faith to praise the LORD our God. We also come to celebrate the
joy of shared experiences, that give us the courage and the encouragement
to continue to have faith and trust in our Guardian God. We give thanks for
the many opportunities we have to learn from God’s wisdom, as it is expressed
through our peers, our teachers, colleagues and life partners. We have been
so blessed by these experiences; especially those hard-to-learn lessons in life
and living; and we give thanks and praise to the Giver of all good and holy gifts.
“...Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together...”

God of grace-filled comfort: we come to join with other travellers on our faith
journey, to thank our God for the gracious gifts to us of God’s Saints in light—
who have guided and blessed us in our development and growth in the faith.
We give thanks for all Sunday School teachers, youth and young adult leaders;
for counsellors, teachers and preachers; for people who have been called into
the ordained ministry of the Word and Sacraments; and for all people who
through their lived-out life and witness, have pointed us in the right direction in
our relationships. Thanks be to God for the support these people have given us.
“...Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together...”

God of steadfast love and compassion: we come to join together with other
people who have experienced the same fears and doubts as we have on our
life’s travels; even as we learn to live with the uncertainties of life; and the
challenges that come to us on this our daily journey. We gather together to
rejoice in the blessings showered upon us, and for our prayers that have been
answered in God’s own way and time. We also come together to celebrate and
rejoice in the blessedness of being able to share our struggles with others; for
the encouragement we have received; and especially for the way we have been
able to trust in God and to trust in each other; as together we have faced up to
our fears and shared our hopes. Generous God, we give you our thanks for your
liberating mercy and forgiving love that empowers us; and for the people you
have gifted to us as fellow travellers on our life’s journey. Each of us seek to love
and serve you with the gifts you have given us; and to love our neighbours as
we also are loved; and to learn how to be forgiving; as you have forgiven us.
“...Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness; let us exalt his name together...” Amen.

A Personal Meditation
All Saints' Day Year A 2017
Psalm 34: 1-10, 22

If you learned to play an instrument, did you also learn music theory and understand
it? I disliked very much having to learn theory, and therefore did not ever understand
it very well. This did not worry me, because I only had to hear a song and I could play
it without the bother of reading music! When the time came to learn the associated
theory of nursing, it was a very different matter! Psalm 34 is not about the ‘theory’ of
knowing and worshipping God; it was based on understanding God from the psalmist’s
own practical experiences of God’s grace and mercy in his own and in Israel’s life.
The psalmist used his own varied life experiences to teach others. The discipline of
learning theory is similar to the discipline required to lead a spiritual life with and in
God; and learning how to recognise God at work amongst the trials and gifts in life.

Creative pause: Learning difficult lessons and benefitting from them?


The psalmist encouraged people from his own real-life-lessons on God’s reliability and
he taught them these words: “...let all who are helpless take heart…” Why? Because
the psalmist said: “...I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me. He freed me from all my
fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will
darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened; he saved me from
all my troubles...” Psalm 34 is all about receiving from God, when in complete trust we cry
to God for help. The psalm’s message was not theory – it was real-life results from God.

Creative pause: “...let all who are helpless, take heart…”


On this day we celebrate the witness of the saints of God, and give thanks for their life
and creativity in the face of many obstacles. Our lesson from them is that their faith and
trust in God was based on reality, facts and experiences; and not on the theory of worship
or any other form of theological study. Under the heading of “Other Commemorations”
included in “Uniting in Worship Leaders Book”1 there is a monthly calendar which gives
thanks for people and the introduction reads thus: “...it calls to mind a representative group
of people whom no one can number, who have been the servants of Christ in their day and
generation...”1 The calendar lists people who are described as being a: “Person of Prayer”;
“Christian Thinker”; “Faithful Servant”; “Renewer of Society”; “Witness to Jesus”; “Apostle”;
“Reformer of the Church”; “Martyr”; and “Christian Pioneer”. The people listed include saints
from long ago and more recent times; people from the East and West strains of religious
observances; and users of that list are encouraged to add more blessed names to that list.

Creative pause: What other categories or names would you add to that list?


1 “Uniting in Worship Leaders Book”
© 1988 The Uniting Church in Australia
Assembly Commission on Liturgy.
Published by the Joint Board of Christian Education
Melbourne Australia

Acknowledgements:
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,
copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

*Revised Indexing Scheme from 'Consultation on Church Union' (COCU).

I acknowledge and give heartfelt thanks for the theological help and inspiration so frequently available from the writings of Professor Walter Brueggemann and Professorial brothers Rolf and Karl Jacobson; and the resources from "The Text this Week" (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditation are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2017 Joan Stott –‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Based on verses from Psalm 34.
Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: allsaintsdaya_2017.pdf