52A*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 10A [Ordinary 20A] or [Proper 15A] 2014
Psalm 133

We come here today, Uniting God, as a community of faith to worship and praise you.
We celebrate the joy of being in the brotherly and sisterly bonds of love and acceptance.

We come today, Creating God, who has called us as one fellowship to revere our God.
We celebrate God’s blessings that continue to enable us to daily grow into God’s grace.

We come today, Refreshing God, who anoints us with grace, mercy and forgiveness as
we confess our sin, and who renews us by the pouring out of God’s guiding presence.
We celebrate the journey we are travelling to become one community, and ask for
God’s blessings as we seek to serve our God in ways that witness to God’s presence. Amen.

Psalm 133
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem. A psalm of David.

1 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony!
2 For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard
and onto the border of his robe.
3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon
that falls on the mountains of Zion.
And the LORD has pronounced his blessing, even life forevermore.

Prayers of Trust and Thankfulness
Pentecost 10A [Ordinary 20A] or [Proper 15A] 2014
Psalm 133

Uniting God, we your people have gathered here together as a community of
faith to worship and praise you. We have come together in trust, in hope, and
in expectation of a blessing from our God. Together we celebrate to joy of
being in the brotherly and sisterly bonds of love and acceptance; but where
some people feel excluded from those experiences, forgive and renew us, we
pray. You have called us to be “your people”, joined in a shared experience
of God’s Fatherly care and unifying grace; and so we ask to receive from you
the pouring out of your oil of love and acceptance, so that anointed with your
gracious presence, we can witness to the way God has guided us in the past,
and in trust, we ask God to lead us now, and then into the unknown future.

Refreshing God, we come today to celebrate together the way God’s gift of
the dew that refreshes God’s creation, especially when it is dry and damaged.
We are also here because we know we are dry and damaged people needing
God’s cleansing and refreshing gift of God’s grace, mercy and forgiveness.
Come to be with us to reinvigorate and renew us, so that as an often damaged
community of faith, we may be made whole through your own healing grace.

Creating God, we come in response to God’s calling of us into a fellowship
of forgiven people, and who rejoice in the blessedness of sharing in praising
our God. As a community of faith, we have been created with a wide diversity
of gifts, graces and experiences, all of which contribute to the uniqueness of
this fellowship of faith; and for these blessings we give you our sincere thanks.
Together, we celebrate all God’s blessings that continue to enable us to daily
grow into God’s grace and in the knowledge of God. We rejoice in the journey
we are travelling to become one community, and ask for God’s blessings, as
we seek to revere and serve our God in ways that witness to God’s presence. Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 10A [Ordinary 20A] or [Proper 15A] 2014
Psalm 133

This very short Psalm is rich in symbolism and good advice! It commences:
“How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live together in harmony…
This could refer to either or both family and/or tribal harmony. It is wonderful—
but how common is it? The fact that it is described as “pleasant” infers that it
can also be very unpleasant! The author went on to use the word “harmony”
three times. In music, harmony is a variety of different notes all sounded at
the same time in a blended sound that creates beauty and is pleasing to its
listeners and creators. A few years ago I visited Tonga and addressed their
Church School Assembly, after listening to their prize-winning brass band and
their beautiful choirs making harmonious music, as only Pacific Islanders can
create! It was a perfect opportunity to speak about harmony in relationships,
and the beauty of giving and receiving love, through the various ages in life.

Creative pause: Harmony is as central to our relationship to God, as it is in music.


In Exodus chapter 28, there is a full description of the robe that Aaron should
wear as the new High Priest: “....whenever he enters the Holy Place to minister
to the Lord, and the bells will tinkle as he goes in and out of the Lord's presence.
If he wears it, he will not die...."1 The special little golden bells tinkled as Aaron
moved into God presence, and were a sign of his obedience to God. In Leviticus
chapter 8, there is an account of the anointing of Aaron by his brother Moses.
“Then Moses took the anointing oil and anointed the Tabernacle and everything
in it, thus making them holy. He sprinkled the altar seven times, anointing it and
all its utensils and the washbasin and its pedestal, making them holy. Then he
poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron's head, thus anointing him and making
him holy for his work..”2 How refreshing that anointing oil must have been, whilst
wearing the robes that Aaron was required by God to wear in God’s presence; as
symbols of the harmony that could exist between God, Aaron and God’s people.

Creative pause: Harmony is as central to obedience to God, as it is in music.


“Harmony” was also compared to the dew that fell from Mount Hermon, that
brought freshness to parched lands and hot and weary people. Psalm 133 is
another “Songs of the Ascents” that the pilgrims sang as the journeyed towards
Jerusalem and the Temple; as they celebrated God’s guiding goodness on what
was often a dangerous and testing journey. “That dew that falls from Mount
Hermon…” that flowed down to the hills of Zion that surrounded Jerusalem, was
like God’s blessing falling on them because of their faithfulness on yet another
pilgrimage to worship the Lord God in God’s official dwelling place at that time.

Creative pause: Harmony is as central to us receiving God’s blessings, as it is in music.


1 Exodus 28:35 (NLT)
2 Leviticus 8: 10b-12 (NLT)

Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from the ‘New Living Translation’, © 1996. Copyright. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA.

*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:
© 2014 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost10[20]a_2014.pdf