10B*
A Call to Worship
Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2015
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Holy Mystery of God, in reverent awe we come to worship and praise you.
May God’s blessings be all around us, behind and above us, as we worship.

Creating God of all life, we breathe in the wonder of your presence with us
and celebrate your life-giving, life-renewing powers that lift us to yourself.
May God’s blessings be ahead of us, and close beside us, as we worship.

Sacred Presence of God, in humble gratitude for your merciful goodness, we
gather to worship you today, as one in heart and mind, we acclaim you as Lord.
May God’s blessings be under us to lift us up; and deep within us – body, mind
and spirit, so that today we have the awareness of God throughout all our living. Amen.

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Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18
For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvellous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up, you are still with me!

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Prayers of Trust
Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2015
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Holy Mystery of God, in reverent awe we come to worship and praise you—
and we trust in you because you are God, and therefore totally trustworthy,
as millennia of relationships within God’s holy presence have testified. Yet
when, as foolish human beings we believe that we “know” God, we discover
that our minds can never comprehend the holy mystery that is God! The long-
ago psalmist gloried in God’s knowledge of him, yet we often feel unworthy
or even threatened by this holy knowledge, and instead, try to hide from God;
yet when we “wake up” to life and reality, we discover that God truly is with us.
“God we praise you…all creation shows your glory, heaven and earth draw
near your throne, singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, and God alone…!’”²

Creating God of all life, we breathe in the wonder of your presence with us,
all around us, and deeply within us to the very depths of our being; and as
we celebrate God’s life-giving, life-renewing power, we give thanks for the
miracles of grace that enable us to be here together to worship and praise our
God! Great Creator, still creating, through your grace and mercy, you continue
to create and shape us into your likeness; because as we have become fully
aware that we cannot shape God, the Holy One, into our likeness! Forgive us
for trying to do that, and to accept the blessedness of becoming more like you!
"God we praise you…all creation shows your glory, heaven and earth draw
near your throne, singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, and God alone…!’”²

Sacred Presence of God, in humble gratitude for your merciful goodness, we
gather to worship you today, as - one in heart and mind - we acclaim you as
our Lord and Liberator. You have freed us to recognise and accept something
of the uniqueness of our God; and you have shown us a little of your infinite
goodness and your energising and stimulating powers, that challenge us to
grow in your grace, and in the knowledge of you as our Lord and God. But,
above all your constant and compassionate love for us that frees us to trust in
your abiding presence, even though we cannot comprehend or measure its
depth or height! All glory and honour be yours, O Holy God, forever and ever.
"God we praise you…all creation shows your glory, heaven and earth draw
near your throne, singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, and God alone…!’”² Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2015
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Psalm 139 seems to me to be a great example of our human characteristics
being attributed to God – this is called “anthropomorphism” which come from
two Greek words “anthropos” (humanity) and “morphe” (shape/form). Today’s
selected verses read like someone was placed under a large microscope while
another person peered deep into the being, the mind and the consciousness
of that other person. The person being studied could keep no secrets from the
one doing the studying; yet the person being studied showed no resentment
or even anger at this intrusion of their personhood. Apart from the mention of
the words “O Lord” in verse 1, this psalm could be addressed to almost anyone—
until in verse 17 we read: “...How precious are your thoughts about me, O God..”
and we discover that God was being praises for creativeness! Yet, how beautiful
and intimate are those descriptive words, and how they have resonated in the
minds and hearts of people since they were first heard or sung! Thank God!



Despite the words above, there is also great comfort in being truly known and
deeply loved! However we feel about ourselves, who we are and what we do—
it is a great comfort and blessing to be “real” before God – with no need to fear
about any particular part of our life not being acceptable! We may believe that
we cause God grief because of our sinfulness or our selfishness, but God sees
past that to the “how” and the “why”; and yearns to bring healing and peace to
our troubled hearts and minds. The implied intimacy of that relationship between
God and each one of us as individuals is very precious. Yet in one sense, this is
a one-sided relationship with God knowing everything about us, whilst we know
so little about God, because we cannot fully know God – but - we can trust God!



What comfort those last words of the selected passage have brought to countless
people who have struggled through many anxious nights: “..And when I wake up,
you are still with me..!” Throughout this psalm there is a continuous theme of God’s
sacred intimacy and God’s presence and utter trustworthiness. However we think
about God, and attribute to God many of our human characteristics, they always fall
far short of the reality of God’s abiding presence with each of us – every day and night.
“Holy Mystery - Sacred Presence; All embracing - Creator God; Gracious Spirit –
Womb of all life; All embracing - Creator God; Gracious Spirit - Womb of all life Ever
gracing - Most Wondrous God… Holy Mystery - Sacred Presence; Creator God…”¹



1 From “A hearts journey” CD track 14
“Holy Mystery, Sacred Presence”
Words and music by Sister Monica Brown
© 2010 Monica Brown & Emmaus Productions
Used with personal permission

2 From “Together in Song” #99
“God we praise you, God we bless you”
Words © Christopher Martin Idle 1938-
Used with permission
LicenSing Licence No. 604543

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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 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 B. Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: epiphany2[2]b_2015.pdf