05B*
A Call to Worship
Christmas Day (ii) B 2017
Psalm 97

God of light, wisdom, truth and compassion: we come to worship you.
God: whose wisdom and truth inspire our own ethics, we give you thanks.

God of dark, impenetrable mystery and wonder: we come to revere you.
God: whose mystery inspires us to prayer and meditation, we bless you.

God of fire, lightning and unimaginable power: we come as your people
to praise and thank you for revealing to us some of your unknown ways.
God: who is unknowable and unknown, yet who is also recognisable and
known to us through our intimate relationships, we gather to praise you. Amen.

Psalm 97

1 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice!
Let the farthest coastlands be glad.

2 Dark clouds surround him.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
3 Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes.
4 His lightning flashes out across the world.
The earth sees and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD,
before the LORD of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness;
every nation sees his glory.
7 Those who worship idols are disgraced—
all who brag about their worthless gods—
for every god must bow to him.

8 Jerusalem has heard and rejoiced, and all the towns of Judah
are glad because of your justice, O LORD!
9 For you, O LORD, are supreme over all the earth;
you are exalted far above all gods.

10 You who love the LORD, hate evil!
He protects the lives of his godly people
and rescues them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on the godly,
and joy on those whose hearts are right.
12 May all who are godly rejoice in the LORD
and praise his holy name!

Prayers of Praise
Christmas Day (ii) B 2017
Psalm 97

God of light, wisdom, truth and compassion: on this day of God’s special revelation,
we come to praise and worship you. God: whose wisdom and truth inspire our own
ethics, we give you thanks for the way your light of love and compassion is expressed
in ways that challenge us to seek further truths and wisdom from your Holy Word; and
through observing and learning from the witness of your faithful people. We are so
blessed in having the experiences of gifted insights into God’s truth and wisdom; and
for the way these act to guide and lead us into new understandings and commitments.
“Let us sing to the God of salvation…Praise our Maker, praise our Saviour, praise the
LORD our everlasting King. Every throne must bow before him, God is LORD of everything!”1

God of dark, impenetrable mystery and wonder: on this day of God’s special revelation,
we come to revere you. God: whose mystery inspires us to prayer and meditation, we
bless you that it is no easy journey to take when following the path of the mystery and
awe that surrounds the Being and Nature of our God; and yet we dare to claim you are
‘our’ God; and we praise you for this miracle of grace. We marvel at the wonder of God’s
powers expressed through nature with its vast diversity and uniqueness, that reveals to
us a little about the glory of God as the Maker of all things; so we give you our praises!
“Let us sing to the God of salvation…Praise our Maker, praise our Saviour, praise the
LORD our everlasting King. Every throne must bow before him, God is LORD of everything!”1

God of fire, lightning and unimaginable power: on this day of God’s special revelation,
we come as your people to praise and thank you for revealing to us some of your many
unknown ways. God: who is unknowable and unknown, yet who is also recognisable
and known to us through the depths of our intimate relationships with God as our Holy
Friend. Today, we gather to praise and glorify you’re your Holy Name, forever and ever.
“Let us sing to the God of salvation…Praise our Maker, praise our Saviour, praise the
LORD our everlasting King. Every throne must bow before him, God is LORD of everything!”1 Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Christmas Day (ii) B 2017
Psalm 97

Verse 2 of Psalm 97 is quite intriguing! I have looked at 13 translations of the first
part of this verse and each of them say: “…Dark clouds surround him…” or “…Clouds
and thick darkness surround God…”: There is amazing consistency within this verse!
This means that the psalmist expressed himself quite clearly. Yet why would God be
considered to be surrounded with thick darkness – when so often God is described as
being light? Is that “thick darkness” related to the mystery of God; or the inexplicable,
impenetrable, inscrutable, enigmatic or indecipherable nature of God’s-Own-Self? Do
you have any issue over the concept of God being surrounded by “thick darkness”?

Creative pause: The LORD our God is King – let us celebrate God’s reign!


The psalmist continues his poetic language approach in the second part of that verse:
“…Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne…” – because they are
the “anchor”, “support”, “habitation” or “bedrock” of God’s throne, according to the various
translations, and are forever the basis of all God’s actions and judgments. We could
also use similar poetic language to describe Jesus’ mission and ministry policy found
in Luke 4: 18-19: “In the reign of Jesus and his Kingdom, the very basis of his throne
are relief for the poor; release for captives; sight for the blind; freedom from oppression;
and there will be an everlasting ‘Jubilee’ - because God’s Spirit dwells within him.” Both
these instances underline the reign of God as King - and God’s active involvement with
all creation - and with humanity in particular – as the fulfilment of God eternal Kingdom.

Creative pause: O LORD, you are supreme and we rejoice in your justice!


I think verse 4 is equally intriguing! Those 13 translations continued to be consistent in
their wording of the concept and imagery of God’s “…lightning flashes out across the
world…” Did the psalmist choose lightning as a metaphor for God’s worldwide influence,
love, compassion, care and mercy as breaking-out in flashes of light through in the deep
darkness that so mysteriously surrounded God; bringing light and hope to all of creation?
Lightning is at its most awesome and frightening when experienced as flashing through
deep purple and black clouds; and yet there is also that spectacular ‘white light’ that lights
up the entire sky and which always seems to accompany lightning. As a child, I was terrified
of the lightning storms we used to have every summer, that seemed to roll on around and
around the surrounding hills of my home town and lasted for hours. I wonder if I would
have been so terrified of lightning and its accompanying ‘white light’, if I’d been taught that
it was an expression of God’s love and mercy – bringing with it the ‘white light’ of justice?

Creative pause: The LORD’s love and mercy flashes out over all over the world!


1 From “Together in Song” #52
“Let us sing to the God of salvation…”
Words by Richard Bewes
Used with Permission,
ONE LICENSE, License #A-604543

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 B. Based on verses from Psalm 97.
Used with permission.

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

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