28B*
A Call to Worship
Maundy Thursday, Year B 2018
Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

Attentive God, we come to celebrate the God who bends down to listen.
With the psalmist, we say: “…I love the LORD because he hears my voice…”

Liberating God, we come to give thanks for God’s freeing acts of mercy.
We also say: “…I love the LORD because he hears…my prayer for mercy…”

Love-empowered God, together we instinctively respond to your faithful love;
and we long to be closer to God, who liberates us from our sin and shame.
With the psalmist we say: “…What can I offer the LORD for all he has done
for me...?” We know that our promises and offerings to God are inadequate;
but in hope, faith and trust; we do offer them to our Nurturing and Holy God. Amen.

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Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

1 I love the LORD because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.
2 Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!

12 What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and praise the LORD’s name for saving me.
14 I will keep my promises to the LORD in the presence of all his people.
15 The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die.
16 O LORD, I am your servant; yes, I am your servant,
born into your household; you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD.
18 I will fulfil my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people—
19 in the house of the LORD in the heart of Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

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Prayers of Trust and Thankfulness
Maundy Thursday, Year B 2018
Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

Attentive God, in trust and thankfulness, we come to celebrate the God who bends
down to listen; and we respond as we offer our thanks: “…I love the LORD because
he hears my voice…” Like the psalmist we also promise: “…Because [God] bends
down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath..!” While we have life and breath—
we commit ourselves to prayer and meditation upon the Being, holiness and glory of
God’s-Own-Self; so that we may become immersed into the Holy Presence of God.
We will “…call on the name of the LORD...” in prayer; and in acts of praise and thanks.

Liberating God, in trust and thankfulness, we come to give thanks for God’s freeing
acts of mercy; and we respond: “…I love the LORD because he hears…my prayer
for mercy…” Like the psalmist, we are chained to many things that come between us
and our God, thereby weakening our relationship with our loving God. But our God
continues to free us from those chains as we confess their power over us; and so we
praise and thank our God for the freedom God grants to us. Together in God’s Holy
Presence we: “…call on the name of the LORD...” in prayer; praise and thankfulness.

Love-empowered God, in trust and thankfulness, and together as one, we instinctively
respond to God’s faithful love; and we yearn for a closer relationship to God, who
liberates us from our sin and shame. But somehow, that does not seem an adequate
response to all God’s goodness and mercy towards us. So with the psalmist we each
say: “…What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me...?” We know that we are
unable to add anything to God’s glory or majesty; and that we cannot offer anything to
God by way of love or compassion, because God is the definition of all those attributes!
We offer what we can in prayers and praises; so we “…call on the name of the LORD...” Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Maundy Thursday, Year B 2018
Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19

As this psalm appears in the Lectionary Bible readings every year, it is always
challenging, but one verse not included in the selected verses came as a new
thought as it applied to the rest of the psalm: “…The LORD protects those of
childlike faith…” What is a childlike faith? Psalm 8:2a gives us a clue: “…You
have taught children and infants to tell of your strength…” Our faithful and stead-
fast God can communicate with children as they do not normally have minds
cluttered with peripheral things. There are not many things more beautiful than
watching a little baby or young child exploring their own toes and hands – feeling
them move and then tasting them - and discovering themselves as God’s child.



The same can also apply to the very elderly, as their world narrows down to the
basic essentials of life and spiritual well-being, as they journey towards God in a
new and special way. I vividly remember being invited to conduct the funeral of an
elderly Scottish lady, and the only way I could describe her faith was “childlike”.
Belle grew up in a remote region of Scotland, where her father worked as a market
gardener, and whose family spent their childhood exploring God’s beautiful world.
Belle continued to live a rich and beautiful Christian life after migrating to Australia,
marrying and having a family; but she never lost that sense of wonder and delight
at the beauty of God’ creation; and the fact that she was intimately and personally
loved by God. I can still hear Belle’s Scottish brogue that grew thicker as she aged,
as she said: “I love the LORD because he hears my voice and my prayers…” That was
truly a childlike faith – which grew richer as she aged, until she left to meet her God.



The psalmist asked: “…What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me…?” and
answered the question with this reason for his deep love of God: “…you have freed
me from my chains…” Professor Walter Brueggemann wrote thus about Psalm 116:
“…As is characteristic of thanksgiving psalms, the poem offers thanks by telling the
story of trouble, petition and deliverance. The story is about the God who comes to
deliver, and the psalm seeks to involve the congregation in a narrative and thereby
facilitate an encounter for the community with this God and express gratitude in word
and deed...”¹ Throughout Belle’s life and through her encouragement, and through her
music, she invited her congregation to join with her in praising and thanking God. Belle
would also have resonated with the psalmist with these words: “…O LORD, I am your
servant; yes, I am your servant, born into your household…” Yes, Belle was God’s child!



1 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
& William H Bellinger Junior from “Psalms”
Psalm 116, page 501
© 2014 Cambridge University Press

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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 116.
Used with permission.

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

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