06C*
A Call to Worship
Christmas 1C 2015
Psalm 148

We come today, in response to your call to praise you, our Creating God:
Praise the Lord, you heavens adore him; praise him angels in the height...4

We come today, to join with all creation in joyfully praising our Creating God.
“....sun and moon, rejoice before him, praise him, all you stars and light...”4

We come today, in response to your call to praise you, our Creating God—
as we sing our praises and offer you our worship and thanks, Eternal God.
“...Praise the Lord, for he has spoken, worlds his mighty voice obeyed; laws,
which never shall be broken, for their guidance he has made.... heaven and
earth, and all creation praise and glorify his name.”4 Hallelujah and Amen!

Psalm 148

1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens!
Praise him from the skies!
2 Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
3 Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
4 Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapours high above the clouds!
5 Let every created thing give praise to the LORD,
for he issued his command, and they came into being.
6 He set them in place forever and ever.
His decree will never be revoked.

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you creatures of the ocean depths,
8 fire and hail, snow and clouds, wind and weather that obey him,
9 mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all livestock, small scurrying animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all people, rulers and judges of the earth,
12 young men and young women, old men and children.
13 Let them all praise the name of the LORD. For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven!

14 He has made his people strong, honouring his faithful ones—
the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the LORD!

Prayers of Praise
Christmas 1C 2015
Psalm 148

We come today, in response to your call to praise you, our Creating God—
for your Holy Name is very great, the majestic glory of the Lord our God
towers over all creation on earth, into outer deep space, and even up to
the very realms of heaven itself! We gather together in reverent awe as we
offer our praises to God; and so Listening God, help us to always be able
to tell the difference between when we praise people to encourage them;
and when praise God for the wonderful things God had created and given
to us; as that praise is something very different! The psalmist catalogued
all of creation who owed their existence to God’s creative powers, and they
all praised God in a chorus of individual sounds for God’s miraculous actions.

We come today, in response to your call to praise you, our Creating God—
as we sing our praises and offer you our worship and thanks, Eternal God.
However, the psalmist had a purpose for all that praise! God “...has made
his people strong, honouring his faithful ones - the people of Israel who are
close to him. Praise the LORD!” Whether in our worship we see ourselves as
the people of ancient Israel; or the people of the “New Israel” or of the “New
Covenant” is irrelevant; what matters is that the God of all creatures, times,
places and people is to be honoured, worshipped, revered and praised always!

We come today, in response to your call to praise you, our Creating God—
even though God’s-Own-Self is cloaked in mystery that is beyond our capacity
to understand, God has so generously created humanity and allowed it to
develop into people of different genders; into various ages; and given them
the priceless gift of learning wisdom as they mature, so that there are people
who lead and people who follow them; there are people with varying skills
and abilities, differing gifts and graces; and there are people who life has
damaged and people who are whole and well; yet each one has the capacity
to worship and praise their Maker. How blessed we are by our Holy God! Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Christmas 1C 2015
Psalm 148

How very blessed we are to be living in this time of scientific research that is
discovering so many different things about the world we live in; and also of that
world that is beyond everything we ever dared to think we would ever be able
to explore. In recent months and years some truly amazing photographs and
discoveries have highlighted scientific developments in equipment, so that
ordinary people can now actually witness undreamed of discoveries. But even
with all this new information, the mystery and wonder of creation still dazzles
and puzzles people – scientists and ordinary people alike. The psalmist had
none of these recent insights, but he still listed all the known heavenly creations;
and also the unknown and mysterious armies of heavenly “beings” that inhabit
that realm, urging them all to respond to God’s summons to offer their praises to
the Almighty Creator of the universe. Even the vapours high above the clouds
are called on to praise the Lord God, who “...issued his command, and they came
into being...” as the Creating Lord “set them in place forever and ever....”; thus
out of the “chaos” of creation, everything was established as God had planned.

Creative pause: “...And God saw that it was good….”1


Then the psalmist’s attention turned to the wonders of nature around him, things
he was familiar with having seen them every day; and the things in nature that he
had only heard of or wondered about; yet they too were all summoned to offer
their praises to God their Creator. The psalmist considered there was nothing too
insignificant to be ignored when summoning all things to proclaim their praises to
God, each in their own specific ways; and even small scurrying animals and birds
had a role in praising their Creator. The author also used contrasts – both wild
and domesticated animals and mighty cedars and fruit trees. The seasons and the
weather were even called on to praise God! The four basic elements in creation
were also involved - earth, water, air and fire were called on the praise their Maker.

Creative pause: “God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!”2


The psalmist finally summoned humanity to praise the Creating God; starting with the
ruling class, then without missing a beat, he called on everyone, giving them all a
good reason to offer their praises to God - “...the young men and young women, old
men and children. Let them all praise the name of the LORD. For his name is very great;
his glory towers over the earth and heaven...!” The anonymous hymn writer knew what
he/she believed when he/she wrote: “Praise the Lord, for He is glorious; never shall his
promise fail: God has made his saints victorious; sin and death shall not prevail. Praise
the God of our salvation; hosts on high his power proclaim: heaven and earth, and all
creation, praise and magnify his name!”4 The “name” of anyone was always symbolic
and descriptive of everything about that named “being” so God’s “...name is very great...”!

Creative pause: “O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens…”3


1 Genesis 1: 12b (NLT)

2 Genesis 1: 31 (NLT)

3 Psalm 8:1 (NLT)

4 From “Together in Song” #93
“Praise the Lord you heavens adore him”
Words: Anonymous. Words in the Public Domain.

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 inspiration available from the writings of
Professor Walter Brueggemann; and through the resources from the internet and “The Text this Week” (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditations are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2015 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

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

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