24C*
A Call to Worship
Passion Sunday, Lent 6C 2016
Psalm 31: 9-16

We come to worship our God, asking for God to have mercy upon us.
We come in trusting hope and anticipation for God to bless us this day.

We come to worship our God, asking for God to rescue us from our sin.
We come with hearts yearning for God to forgive us of our sinfulness.

We come to worship our God, asking for God to allow God’s favour to
rest upon us and to shine the light of God’s unfailing love upon us all.
We come today, with all the longings of our hearts and minds laid bare
before God, asking for God’s unfailing and trustworthy love to heal us. Amen.

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Psalm 31: 9-16
For the choir director: A psalm of David.

9 Have mercy on me, LORD, for I am in distress. Tears blur my eyes.
My body and soul are withering away.
10 I am dying from grief; my years are shortened by sadness.
Sin has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within.
11 I am scorned by all my enemies and despised by my neighbours—
even my friends are afraid to come near me.
When they see me on the street, they run the other way.
12 I am ignored as if I were dead, as if I were a broken pot.
13 I have heard the many rumours about me, and I am surrounded by terror.
My enemies conspire against me, plotting to take my life.

14 But I am trusting you, O LORD, saying, “You are my God!”
15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
16 Let your favour shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.

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Prayers of Confession and Trust
Passion Sunday, Lent 6C 2016
Psalm 31: 9-16

God of unfailing love: we come to worship you today amongst our brothers and
sisters in the faith, because we not only need God’s help, but we also need the
help of our faith companions on our pilgrimage. We need God’s unfailing love to
accept each of us as remorseful and penitent sinners; and for God to offer us the
gift and blessing of forgiveness for our failures to be obedient to God’s Word and
God’s decrees. We come in trusting hope and anticipation for God to bless us
this day as we honestly and openly acknowledge our sin and failures before God;
and to also receive loving acceptance and forgiveness from our faith companions.

God of unfailing mercy, tenderness and compassion: we come with thanks to our
God, because in the past we have been blessed by God’s past acts of forgiveness;
and today, we come again with our hearts and minds yearning to receive God’s
forgiveness; so that once more we may start a new life with God. We pray for you
to grant to us your gracious forgiveness, so that with a clean page, we can each
start again on our faith pilgrimage, with God’s help, support, favour and guidance.

God of unfailing trustworthiness, justice and integrity: we come to worship our God,
and we bring with us all the longings of our hearts and minds, and we lay them bare
before God’s holy presence. We come asking that the gracious favour of God will
shine and rest upon us with the light of God’s unfailing love and mercy. Eternal One,
we really do need God to rescue us again from our state of sinfulness; and to forgive,
heal and bless us. Even as we are forgiven and blessed, we can then more worthily
and truly worship, love, honour, obey and serve our Generous God all our living days. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Passion Sunday, Lent 6C 2016
Psalm 31: 9-16

Devout Jews have a prayer called the ‘Shema’ which they pray twice a day; and
also regularly on other worship occasions; and they wear the ‘Shema’ words in two
small black boxes called ‘Tefillin’ or ‘Phylacteries’, one on their forehead and one
on an arm, which they tie on each week day morning. The ‘Mezuzah’ is the often
decorated boxes that contained the ‘Shema’ as it is attached to the house door
and gate posts. The ‘Shema’ with its added instructions are in Deuteronomy 6:4-9:
“...Listen, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. And you must love the
LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you
must commit yourselves whole-heartedly to these commands that I am giving you
today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you
are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when
you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as
reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates….” When
Jesus was asked “Which was the greatest commandment?” his response was an
amended version of the ‘Shema’: ‘“…You must love the LORD your God with all your
heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. The entire law and
all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments…”’¹



Today’s psalmist was having a difficult and stressful time and he prayed to God for
mercy and help. After a litany of woe over his sufferings, he earnestly sang: “...I am
trusting you, O LORD, saying, “You are my God!” My future is in your hands...” The
psalmist was worshipping God in his prayers with all of his heart, soul and mind! He
worshipped and prayed to God even as he shared with God the pain in his heart over
the way he was being treated by both his friends and his enemies. He worshipped
and prayed to God as he shared the anguish of his soul; and he worshipped and
prayed to God with the rationality and determination of all his mental powers as he
prayed “...I am trusting you, O LORD...” This earnest prayer was a conscious decision
by his extremely clear mind and of his life’s experiences, which enabled him to rise up
above the pettiness and struggle of his persecution; and his failing health and strength.



The psalmist was a wreck of a man and his lament encompassed all of his physical,
emotional, spiritual, moral and mental-health capacities and potentialities! When there
is such a collapse of anyone’s personhood, it is often an absolute miracle if they can
rise above all that pain and anguish. Yet the psalmist had the spiritual strength still to
trust in God and to pray to God, even requesting that God to: “...Let your favour shine
on your servant. In your unfailing love, rescue me...” As with many other people, I too
have come to the ‘end of my tether/rope’; and there is only one way forward, and that is
to trust in God’s ‘unfailing love’, mercy and grace; to pray for God’s guidance on the long
road back to whatever is anyone’s sense of normality; and to spiritual health and peace.



1 Matthew 22: 36-40 (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 inspiration available from the scholarship and 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:
© 2016 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: passionsundayc_2016.pdf