10B*
A Call to Worship
After Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2018
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Accepting God, we come to celebrate the Love that excels all other loves.
We come to rejoice in the knowledge of that “…pure unbounded love …”¹

Responding God, hear us today as we plead: “…Come, almighty to deliver…”¹
We come to confess that all our ‘other loves’ continually try to dominate us.

Inspiring God, we come to claim God’s eternal promise to: “…fix in us thy
humble dwelling…enter every trembling heart…let us all thy life receive…”¹
Compassionate God, today we humbly pray that we may always be: “…lost
in wonder, love… and praise thee, without ceasing…and glory in thy perfect love...”¹ 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 Confession and Trust
After Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2018
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Accepting God, in hope, faith and trust we come together to celebrate the Love
that excels all other loves; that Love that is “…pure, unbounded love…”¹ which
gives and keeps on giving, and we rejoice in that generous Love. We celebrate
the Love that knows us so intimately; that knows everything we do, say or think;
and which nevertheless, still keeps on loving us. We confess that at times, that
Love is a scary concept; that always we are unworthy of that Love; and that there
are even times we do not want that Love interfering with our human plans. Forgive
and renew us we pray, because of your great accepting Love for us. In your infinite
mercy you hear us and: “…You place your hand of blessing on my head…How
precious are your thoughts about me, O God...when I wake up, you are still with me!”

Responding God, in hope, faith and trust we come together to rejoice in the Love
that excels all other loves. Today we come to make our confessions to you, as we
cling on to those ‘other loves’ that continually try to dominate us; and we ask that
you: “…Come, almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive…,”¹ because in your
life, we find true fullness of life that is blessed by forgiveness. Forgive, renew and
restore us we pray, because of your great accepting Love for us. In your infinite
mercy you hear us and: “…You place your hand of blessing on my head…How
precious are your thoughts about me, O God...when I wake up, you are still with me!”

Inspiring God, in hope and faith, we come together, trusting in the Love that excels
all other loves. We give thanks for the initiative that God has taken by gifting us with
an intimacy that expresses our relationship with God. As we confess our sin and our
failures, we also ask that through God’s Love for us, that as we experience God’s
presence, we can also celebrate that God does “…enter every trembling heart…,”¹
granting to us a peace and love that is beyond our understanding. Even as we accept
the grace of God’s forgiveness, we humbly pray that we may always be: “…lost in
wonder, love… and praise thee, without ceasing…and glory in thy perfect love...”¹
and that in and through your mercy: “…You place your hand of blessing on my head…"¹ Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Epiphany 2B [Ordinary 2B] 2018
Psalm 139: 1-6, 13-18

Within this season of Epiphany, when we especially experience once again new
revelations that God gifts to us; we pause to meditate on the blessedness of the
intimacy which is ours through our relationship with God; and the creativity and
strength of that relationship. The psalmist suggests a sense of deep awe as he/she
ponders what it means to have such an intimate relationship with God; what the
implications of that association and liaison are; and how that intimacy is experienced
and lived out each day. The hymn writer sums up that special intimacy: “LORD, you
have searched me, and you know where’re I rest, where’re I go; and you know all that
I have planned, and all my ways are in your hand….”² This revelation of God’s so
very special understanding and accepting love for each of us is utterly mind-blowing!



The anonymous author continued: “…My words from you I cannot hide; I feel your
power on every side; such wondrous knowledge, awe-filled might, unfathomed depth,
unmeasured height…!”² We might be able to accept that God knows all about our
physical and spiritual qualities and deficiencies; but the concept of God being able
to understand and know our mind and thoughts is daunting – to say the very least!
We often pride ourselves on what we believe is the power and strength of our thought
processes and independent thinking; but the reality of God knowing all that passes
through our mind is possibly even horrifying! We might be able to bluff our way through
life by pretending we are better than we really are – but bluffing God? Never! Ever!



No matter what revelations we discover about ourselves as we reflect on this psalm—
there are those incredibly reassuring words: “…How precious are your thoughts about
me, O God….when I wake up, you are still with me…!” It is as if the nightmare of our
doubts about our own acceptability to God are gone; as if we have woken refreshed
from our troubled sleep with the knowledge that God is still with us; that the unconscious
thoughts and fears of our dreams are as nothing in the morning light. With God’s complete
knowledge of us and our secret fears, our self-doubts, our secret phobia, our aloneness,
our ambitions and our hopes and dreams; the concept of God being so intimate with us
that God’s hand is placed in blessing on our head is a very real and a spiritual blessing.



1 From “Together in Song” #217
“Love divine all loves excelling”
© Words by Charles Wesley (alt)
Words are in the Public Domain.

2 From “The Australian Hymn Book” #90
“LORD you have searched me”
From the Psalter Hymnal 1927 (alt)
Words are in the Public Domain.

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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 139.
Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: epiphany2[2]b_2018.pdf