09B*
A Call to Worship
After Epiphany 1B Jesus' Baptism [Ordinary 1B] 2018
Psalm 29

We come to “Honour the LORD…honour the LORD for his glory and strength..”
Come, let us “…Honour the LORD for the glory of his name; …his holiness…”

We come to offer our awe and reverence; as we worship in God’s presence.
Come, let us share in the joy, bringing our praises: “…everyone shouts, ‘Glory!’…”

We come to sing our prayers and praises, as we reverently cherish God’s
sacred presence with us; and give honour to the glory of God’s Holy Name.
Come, let us offer our thanksgiving as we celebrate: “… The LORD reigns as
king forever. The LORD gives his people strength;…blesses them with peace.” Amen.

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Psalm 29
A psalm of David.

1 Honour the LORD, you heavenly beings;
honour the LORD for his glory and strength.
2 Honour the LORD for the glory of his name.
Worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness.

3 The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea.
The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea.
4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
5 The voice of the LORD splits the mighty cedars;
the LORD shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

6 He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the LORD strikes with bolts of lightning.
8 The voice of the LORD makes the barren wilderness quake;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the LORD twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.

In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”
10 The LORD rules over the floodwaters.
The LORD reigns as king forever.
11 The LORD gives his people strength.
The LORD blesses them with peace.

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Prayers of Thankfulness and Praise
After Epiphany 1B Jesus' Baptism [Ordinary 1B] 2018
Psalm 29

We come to worship God singing: “Worship, honour, glory, blessing, LORD we
offer to your name; young and old, their praise expressing, join your goodness
to proclaim…”¹ Today we rejoice in the privilege of honouring our LORD and
God. But what do we mean by honouring God? We are blessed as we explore
the meanings of these every-day words; and so as we honour our LORD and God,
we also cherish, celebrate and glorify God’s-Own-Self. Because of the gracious
blessings we daily receive through “…God’s glory and strength…” we “…honour
the LORD for the glory of his name; and worship the splendour of his holiness...”

We come to worship God, celebrating because: “…As the saints in heaven adore
you, we would bow before your throne; as your angels serve before you, so on
earth your will be done.”¹ We also come to offer to God our awe and reverence;
and our thanks for the all the blessings we receive, as we acknowledge and give
thanks for God’s holy presence with us. Today, we share together in the joy of
bringing our praises to God - even if we are too self-conscious to join with the
psalmist in shouting “Glory!” We give thanks too, and praise to our LORD and God
for the daily evidence of God’s voice and its commanding power over all of creation.
When God speaks, nature bows before its Creator and LORD, giving recognition
to the awesome Source of its strength, power and majestic grandeur; and also its
fragile beauty, that only a loving Creator could or would give to delight our souls.

“Now to the King of heaven…to him be glory given, power, majesty and praise;
from shore to shore his name be sung by every tongue for evermore.”² Today we
come to join with countless people who in the past have sung their praises and
offered their prayers; as together, we reverently cherish God’s sacred presence
with us; and give honour to the glory of God’s Holy Name. We also come to offer
our prayers of thanksgiving as we celebrate: “… The LORD reigns as king forever.
The LORD gives his people strength;…blesses them with peace.” We rejoice in that
peace that God alone can give to us; and that serenity of spirit that enables us live
in God’s presence with confident hope that with God – all is well and anything possible. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Epiphany 1B Jesus' Baptism [Ordinary 1B] 2018
Psalm 29

Some psalms are meant for deeply personal and private communion, prayer and
meditation with and about God’s-Own-Self; whilst other are clearly meant to be
used in shared worship of God. Psalm 29 is usually included in the lists of psalms
appropriate for public or shared worship; and commences with a divine command
to honour God: “Honour the LORD, you heavenly beings; honour the LORD for his
glory and strength. Honour the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in
the splendour of his holiness…” God is to be honoured, revered, worshipped, praised,
acclaimed, respected, valued, cherished, celebrated and glorified; because of God’s-
Own-Self’s ‘qualities’ of glory and strength; the splendour of God’s holiness; and the
“glory of his name”. The psalmist sang as he led their worship: “… Honour the LORD
for the glory of his name…” When we revere God’s ‘name’, it is more than a label we
call God – as it also refers to God’s unlimited holiness, greatness, power and majesty.



Having given God the honour and glory due to the ‘Name’ of God, the psalmist then
encouraged the worshippers six times to revere the commanding power of “…The
voice of the LORD...” whose powers over nature were and are awesome. Shakespeare’s
quotation from ‘Macbeth’ about “…sound and fury…”, is nothing compared to God’s
powerful presence and “voice”, as it echoed “…above the sea…” and “…rules over
the floodwaters…” The LORD is above, over and beyond the powers of the “waters”—
about which so many people lived in fear in the time of the Old Testament. How do
we in this present age allow God to be God; and to leave this world’s problems for
God to rule over creation and humanity as God sees and knows to be “…good…”?³



Yet that same LORD “…gives his people strength,” and “blessed them with peace.”
How do we read or understand that gift of ‘peace’? Do we mean the absence of
noise; the lack of any disturbance in people’s lives; or a meek, mild and passive
existence; or do we mean God’s ‘Shalom’ which can either be a greeting; or a prayer
for wholeness of life for the recipient/s. In 1 Kings, chapter 19:11a-12, we have the
story of Elijah as he confronted the holy presence of God at the entrance of a cave
as he hid from his attackers. “…as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a
mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were
torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake,
but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire,
but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle
whisper...” We give thanks for those times when God’s “…gentle whisper…” blesses
us, following on from life’s upheavals; and the traumatic effects of a conflicted life—
and the gift of a realisation that in all circumstances of life; God’s-Own-Self is just as
“present” for us in the “…gentle whisper…” as in any storm, unlike Elijah’s experience!



1 From “Together in Song” #772
“Worship, honour, glory, blessing, LORD”
© Words by Edward Osler
Words are in the Public Domain

2 From “Together in Song” #769
“Now to the King of heaven”
© Words by Philipp Doddridge & Isaac Watts (Alt)
Words are in the Public Domain

3 Genesis 1:4 (NLT)

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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 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 29.
Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: epiphany1[1]b_2018.pdf