05A*
A Call to Worship
Christmas Day (iii) Year A, 2016
Psalm 98

God of action and fidelity, we come together as your people to worship you.
Come: “Praise with joy the world’s Creator, God of justice, love and peace...”¹

Revealing God of righteousness and integrity, we praise your Holy Name.
“...Source and End of human knowledge, force of greatness without cease…”¹

God of delivered promises, we give thanks for your unconditional faithful love
and mercy; and your steadfast tenderness towards all that you have created.
We come to: “...Celebrate the Maker’s glory – Power to rescue and release…
who frees the captive, finds the lost, heals the sick … liberating truth from
pride, … One God in community… thus the world shall yet believe…”¹ Amen and Amen.

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Psalm 98

1 Sing a new song to the Lord, for he has done wonderful deeds.
His right hand has won a mighty victory;
his holy arm has shown his saving power!
2 The Lord has announced his victory
and has revealed his righteousness to every nation!
3 He has remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel.
The ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

4 Shout to the Lord, all the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy!
5 Sing your praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song,
6 with trumpets and the sound of the ram’s horn.
Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise!
Let the earth and all living things join in.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!
Let the hills sing out their songs of joy
9 before the Lord,

for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with fairness.

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Prayers of Thankfulness and Praise
Christmas Day (iii) Year A, 2016
Psalm 98

Today, we gather to worship the God of all time and eternity, the God of action
and with the proven fidelity of constant faithfulness of God’s relationship with
all of creation; but especially with all of humanity. We gather on this special day
to “Praise with joy the world’s Creator, God of justice, love and peace...”¹ It is
a joy to be together to praise our Maker, to praise our Liberator, and to praise
and thank the God of our salvation. We give thanks and offer our praises to the
God whose “...right hand has won a mighty victory; his holy arm has shown his
saving power...” and who “...has revealed his righteousness to every nation..!”

Holy God, you who are the “...Source and End of human knowledge, force of
greatness without cease…”¹ we gather to give thanks for the many revelations
we have had of God’s goodness and mercy; of God’s generous forgiveness of
our confessed sin; and of the way God shines the radiant light of holy love and
grace upon us in renewal. We give thanks for God’s many promises that have
been realised in our own lifetime; for the hope and trust that has grown from
those fulfilled promises; and so with one voice we join in praising your Holy Name.

God of delivered promises, we give thanks for your unconditional, faithful love
and mercy; and your steadfast tenderness towards all that you have created.
We come to: “...Celebrate the Maker’s glory – Power to rescue and release…
who frees the captive, finds the lost, heals the sick … liberating truth from
pride, … One God in community… thus the world shall yet believe…”¹ We pray
for all who meet to worship you this day; for all who have received the blessings
of family love and acceptance; and for all for whom this day will be painful and
lonely because of the events of the past year. Comfort those who mourn, give
hope to those in despair; and awaken in all people, the love you have gifted to us. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Christmas Day (iii) Year A, 2016
Psalm 98

Psalm 98 celebrates a very proactive God, who has “...done wonderful deeds; …
won a mighty victory; … announced his victory; …revealed his righteousness to
every nation…! [and] remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel…”
Almost all the rest of the psalm is a call to celebrate all creations and humanity’s
response to God’s activity! Yet the amazing things about this psalm is that these are
were events that had occurred – they are not promises! No doubt we have all had
experiences of promises that usually become a reality, however, sometimes we
have to wait longer than anticipated for the promised item to be realised. My earliest
memory of a delayed fulfilment of a promise was when I requested a bicycle for my
next birthday, and I was assured that it would arrive; but instead, I had to wait for
several birthdays to pass before my longed-for bike arrived. In this psalm, the author
was convinced that while God’s actions were fact; they were also current promises!



When something is “announced”, it is normally a formal public statement about a fact,
or it is seen as a proclamation, a report, a bulletin, a declaration or a communiqué
pronouncing that fact. Most of the other translations use the term “made known” or
“revealed”, but the message is the same – God has been active and it has happened!
Those longed-for events have been completed – God has “...won a mighty victory; …
[and] announced his victory; …revealed his righteousness to every nation…!” God has
told people who were listening that the victory over evil is final and complete; and that
God deals honourable and equitably with “every nation”! But do we live and love as if we
believe that? Do we do as the rest of the psalm instructs us: “...Shout to the Lord, all
the earth; break out in praise and sing for joy… Make a joyful symphony before the Lord,
the King! …Let the earth and all living things join in...!” over God’s triumph over evil?



The other reality that was announced by the psalmist is that God has “…remembered
his promise to love and be faithful to Israel…” We need to remember that this is Old
Testament writings – about 1,000 years before the time of Jesus - and that God had
chosen the people of Jacob/Israel naming them as God’s chosen people. God’s “hesed”
represented, symbolised and referred to God’s persistent and unconditional faithful love
in action - through God’s tenderness, God’s loving kindness and mercy. God’s “hesed”
included a covenant relationship in which God sought after humanity with love and mercy.
God’s “hesed” expressed both God’s loyalty to God’s covenant and God’s love for people
along with the faithfulness to keep God’s promises and statements to God’s people. Over
the centuries, God’s “hesed” never changed; except that it took on a new form amongst
humanity with the coming of Jesus as “God-with-us”. Through Jesus’ life, his teaching and
healing ministry, and eventually his death and resurrection, the term “God’s chosen people”
has been broadened to include people in the “new Jerusalem/Israel” – to all believers in Jesus.



1 From “Together in Song” #179
“Praise with joy the world’s Creator”
Words by John Bell and Graham Maule
Used with Permission,
Word of Life International Licence #2425

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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 scholarship and 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:
© 2016 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Used with permission.

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

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