36B*
A Call to Worship
Easter 6B 2018
Psalm 98

Revealing God: you invite us into being fellowship with our Mysterious God!
We come to sing God’s praises and to learn more about our Gracious God.

Remembering God: you invite us into communicating with our Listening God!
We come to sing a new song about God’s welcoming love and faithfulness.

All-inclusive God: you invite us – and all creation - to celebrate God’s great
victory over death, darkness and isolation; and so we offer God our awed
worship, praise and thanksgiving for the blessings of God’s revelations to us.
We come to sing, to pray, to learn, to share, and to worship the God who has
revealed God’s gifts of justice, equality and righteousness; so that all creation—
to the ends of the earth, will know and understand why God has won the victory! Amen.



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.


Prayers of Praise
Easter 6B 2018
Psalm 98

All praise be to the God who reveals God’s-Own-Self to us and all creation; and
who has invited us to be in fellowship with our Mysterious, Unknown - and yet
Known God! We gather together to marvel at God’s mighty deeds and generous
responses; and so we come to join our voices in singing our God’s praises; as
we travel on our faith’s journey of learning about our God; and worshipping and
praising the God who so graciously loves us; and all of God’s creation. With joy
we celebrate our God: “Let all the world, in every corner sing: my God and King…!”1

All praise be to the God who invites us into frequent communication with our God—
and who listens and hears our prayers of praise, thanks, petition and confession;
and who responds to us out of God’s great love and compassion! Today, we gather
together to rejoice in the miracles of God’s healing grace towards us; and we join
in singing God’s praises for the hope and reassurance we gain for God’s constant
and Holy Presence with us. We have been assured that God welcomes our praises,
and our new songs of thanks and celebration. With a shared joy and grateful minds
and hearts we sing: “Let all the world, in every corner sing: my God and King…!”1

All praise be to the God who is all-inclusive towards all that God has created; and
who invites us – and all creation - to celebrate God’s great and final victory over the
powers of death, darkness and isolation! Today, we gather together in reverent awe
because we have so many things for which we need to thank our God! We have so
many blessings showered upon us by God; the blessings of love, hope and support;
and the blessings of acceptance from people who mean the most to us. We come to
sing, pray and to share in worship of the God who has demonstrated to us the gifts
of God’s justice, equality; and making it possible for us to be in a right relationship
with our God; as we sing: “Let all the world, in every corner sing: my God and King…!”1 Amen.


A Personal Meditation
Easter 6B 2018
Psalm 98

Psalm 98 has appeared many times in the Lectionary readings for Christmas, Easter,
and After Pentecost celebrations; and always with a relevant message. In the years
that I have been writing these Personal Meditations there is always something new
to discover about this psalm! For Easter Day this year, I wrote about the journey my
‘Worship on Thursday’ group had travelled during Lent, as we reflected on the various
signs and symbols associated with those several Covenants that God entered into
with the people of Israel. Those gradual revelations God gave to their leaders was a
slow introduction of God to the people of Israel – the God who loved them so faithfully
and continuously - but it was slow, because we feeble human beings are incapable of
understanding such complex and yet simple facts of God’s steadfast love for us - as
we each are a part of God’s blessed creation. Those revelations were also very slow,
because the people of Israel thought they could and would always manage on their own!
Yet, God’s love was not limited to just the people of Israel, as the inspired psalmist sang:
“…The LORD…has revealed his righteousness to every nation...The ends of the earth
have seen the victory of our God…all the earth break out in praise and sing for joy…!”


Creative pause: “…The LORD…has revealed his righteousness to every nation...”


In his book “From whom no secrets are hid”, Professor Walter Brueggemann describes
God as a “…great promise-keeper whose resolve guarantees that the world is not a
closed system. Creation, instead, is a world very much in process, sure to come to the
full Shalom… Consequently, the Psalms can gather all the great words of the covenant
and apply them to the future… the entire vocabulary of fidelity is thrown towards the
future – steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness, peace…
[are] all in the ‘will’ of the
net yet…”
2 Later on, Brueggemann continued: “…The ‘righteousness of God’ comes
down to concrete actions that intend generous rehabilitation of those without resources…”
3

Creative pause: The Psalms gather all God’s words and actions with fidelity.


God is not only the “great promise-keeper”,2 but the LORD is also the ‘remembering’
God! “…The LORD has…remembered his promise to love and be faithful to Israel…”
The people who composed the Psalms must have had an exceptional understanding
of God; and of the wider world in which God operated so generously and lovingly; and
who offered frequent support to the rebellious and disobedient Israelites in their times of
trouble! Thanks be to God that our All-inclusive and “Promise-Keeping”2 God invited
“…all the earth…” and that means us too; the sea, all living things, rivers and hills to
be part of the celebrations because: “…the LORD…has done wonderful deeds. His
right hand has won a mighty and victory; his holy arm has shown his saving power…!”


Creative pause: We worship the “Promise-Keeping”2 and “Remembering” God!


1 From “Together in Song” #105
“Let all the world in every corner sing:”
© Words by George Herbert
Words are in the Public Domain

2 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
from “From whom no secrets are hid”
Chapter 2, page 33 © 2014 Westminster/John Knox Press
Louisville Kentucky USA

3 Ibid - Chapter 5, page 52



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:
© 2018 Joan Stott –‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Based on verses from Psalm 98.
Used with permission.


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

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