51B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 11B [Ordinary 19B] or [Proper 14B] 2015
Psalm 34: 1-8

Listening God, we gather to join in songs of worship and prayers of praise.
Come, let us together praise the Lord our God in all circumstances of life.

Responding God, we gather to share in celebrating God’s great goodness.
Come, let us tell each other of the Lord’s goodness to us through all our life.

Rescuing God, we gather to thank you again for saving us from the perils that
threatened, and from all those fears that left us feeling helpless and bewildered.
Come, let us all be glad and take heart, for the Lord our God has freed us from
all our fears. Come: because those who turn to God “for help will be radiant with
joy... Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him...” - the God who is our Liberator. Amen.

Psalm 34: 1-8
A psalm of David, regarding the time he pretended
to be insane in front of Abimelech, who sent him away.

1 I will praise the LORD at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the LORD;
let all who are helpless take heart.

3 Come, let us tell of the LORD’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.

6 In my desperation I prayed, and the LORD listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
7 For the angel of the LORD is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!

Prayers of Thankfulness
Pentecost 11B [Ordinary 19B] or [Proper 14B] 2015
Psalm 34: 1-8

Listening God, we gather together today to join in songs of worship
and prayers of praise to our Liberating God; who, when we take our
fears and anxieties to God, frees us from them. Let us all join in the
celebration of God’s blessings in all the circumstances of our life and
our living; as we give thanks for God’s presence within us to inspire,
challenge and call to us in our shared acts of worship. We are invited
to “...taste and see that the Lord is good...”; so help us, O God, to live
and act positively in our responses to God’s goodness; and to share
those discoveries about God in ways that encourage others in their faith.
We say: “In God is my safety and glory, the rock of my strength.
My soul is at rest in God alone, my salvation comes from God.”1

People of God, come, let us all be glad and take heart, for the Lord
our God has lifted from us the burden of our fears and bewilderment;
and that sense of being crushed by life’s anxieties. Come: because
those who turn to God “for help will be radiant with joy... Oh, the joys
of those who take refuge in him...” - the God who is our Liberating help.
We urge: “Take refuge in God, all you people, trust God at all times.
My soul is at rest in God alone, my salvation comes from God.”1

Responsive and Responding God, we give thanks that as we call on
God in our need, we can confidently expect that God will listen and
answer our prayers. Help us, we pray, to recognise the gifts that God
gives us in answering our prayers, and to accept the generosity and
grace that enables us to receive from God in ways that are a blessing.
We celebrate: “God Almighty is with me, the Lord is my refuge.
My soul is at rest in God alone, my salvation comes from God.”1 Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 11B [Ordinary 19B] or [Proper 14B] 2015
Psalm 34: 1-8

Psalm 34 is another acrostic literary unit which was deliberately intended to teach
and proclaim people’s thankfulness for God’s mercies; and blessings of deliverance
from an unknown danger. The psalm starts with an individual act of praise; but then
quickly invites others to express their own experiences of deliverance. In humble
awareness of God’s greatness, the people were urged to join with their leader so
that together, they could “praise”, “constantly speak”, “boast” and “exalt” God’s name—
because God had “answered”, “freed”, “listened” and “saved” them; and to thank God.

Creative pause: Do you invite people to join with you in thanking God?


Understanding science is not one of my strengths, but in response to my request on
the internet for a “simple explanation of radiant heat”, I discovered that the spread of
radiant heat takes place when a hot surface heats up objects near to it; for example,
piped hot water under the floor or around the walls of a room acts to heat that room;
or by sitting around a camp fire; or in the sunshine which provides radiant energy in the
form of light and heat to warm us. The author of Psalm 34 through his own experiences,
promised that people who turn to God for help will become radiant with joy! So when
someone is blessed and helped by God, they are blessed with “radiant joy”; so through
their joy, they enlighten and warm others! “...I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy..”

Creative pause: Do you radiate joy because of the way God has blessed you?


“…Taste and see that the LORD is good…” Almost from when children are born, they
try to put everything they can grip into their mouth. Early on, they do this because their
fingers and hands are not developed enough to hold or grip any objects; whilst there
are more nerve endings per square millimetre in their mouth than anywhere else in the
baby’s body. If the baby wants to know what anything feels like, they put things in their
mouth as they can control their mouth and gums. We taste things to savour and identify
their flavour, which are either sweet, sour, salty or bitter as they are dissolved when they
come in contact with our taste buds. We also taste things to experience something new.
Babies also have a degree of sight from birth although things can be a bit fuzzy, but they
can identify light, shapes and movement. So, how does one “taste” and “see” the Lord”?
The five senses gifted to us of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch are not the senses
needed or used to seek to discover God’s presence within us; but we require a spiritual
sensitivity to enable us to seek, find and experience that Holy Presence deep within us.
It is all a matter to hope, faith and trust that God is indeed within us, and acting upon it.

Creative pause: How did you identify God’s presence within you?


1 “My soul is at rest in God alone”
From the Taizé Community (1978)
© Ateliers et Presses de Taizé Ltd
Used with Permission
Word of Life International License #2425T

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: pentecost11[19]b_2015.pdf