55A*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 13A [Ordinary 23A] or [Proper 18A] 2014
Psalm 149

Glorious God, we come together to praise our God.
We give thanks that God delights in receiving praise.

Creating God, we rejoice together in God’s splendour.
Every day and night, we are blessed by God’s creativity.

Holy God, we come together to give our thanks and to
celebrate our own past experiences of God’s goodness.
We joyfully sing new songs of praise for the blessings of
each new experience of God’s generous grace and mercy. Amen.

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Psalm 149

1 Praise the LORD! Sing to the LORD a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.
2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker.
O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King.
3 Praise his name with dancing,
accompanied by tambourine and harp.
4 For the LORD delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.
5 Let the faithful rejoice in this honour.
Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.

6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths,
and a sharp sword in their hands –
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with shackles
and their leaders with iron chains,
9 to execute the judgment written against them.
This is the glory of his faithful ones.
Praise the LORD!

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Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Pentecost 13A [Ordinary 23A] or [Proper 18A] 2014
Psalm 149

Glorious God, we come together to praise and give thanks that God delights
in receiving our praise and our sincere worship. We gather together today
as members of God’s faithful people, joining with countless people who, in
times past, have also faithfully praised and worshipped God. We give thanks
for the blessedness of being gathered into a community where worship of
God is joyfully celebrated, and where God is central to our shared fellowship
and community involvement and outreach. May all we do and say through
our living and loving bring glory and honour to the God we worship and serve.

Creating God, we celebrate together God’s splendour as every day and night,
we are blessed by God’s creativity. Every generation has found ways to celebrate
and praise God with music and dancing, from ancient chants to loud and noisy
modern songs; from graceful and stately dancing to wildly enthusiastic rhythms.
May we each find creative ways to express our joy and thankfulness to our God,
and sensitively recognise each other’s expressions of praise and thankfulness.

Holy God, we come together to give our thanks and to celebrate our own past
experiences of God’s goodness; for the spiritual liberation God brings to people
who are faithful in their worship, witness and service; and for the blessedness
of being able to freely praise and bless God’s Holy Name. May we each day,
joyfully live out our new songs of praise for the blessings of each new experience
of God’s grace, goodness and mercy; and each night, may we thank our God
for each day’s gifts as we rest within God’s eternal care and holiest blessing.
“God we praise you, God we bless you, God, we name you sovereign Lord!
Mighty King whom angels worship….All creation shows your glory, heaven and
earth draw near your throne, singing, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, and God alone!’”¹

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 13A [Ordinary 23A] or [Proper 18A] 2014
Psalm 149

Several commentators suggest that Psalm 149 is a song of joy as the
people of God remembered God’s saving acts of being freed from Egypt’s
cruel slavery; their long journey to the new homeland; and the way they
laid claim to the “Promised Land”, even though that meant that some other
people lost their own homeland. The section from verses 6b to 9a, with
all their blood-thirsty ideas, all added on to the power and might of the
Israelites, and therefore gave added glory to God and God’s own people.
In Professor Walter Brueggemann’s book “The Psalms and the life of Faith”
he introduced Psalm 149 thus: “...This psalm is extremely problematic
because, after a celebratory introduction (vv.1-4), it combines “Praise the
Lord” with “pass the ammunition....”² Neither the author nor his people
ever sought to escape from their past experiences, as they saw them as
defining who they were as a “people”; nor did they ever want to change
their current situation of finally living in their own “God-promised” land.



It is difficult for us to bridge the gap of three thousand of years when this
psalm was originally created and sung, and also for us to know the depths
of feelings those people had over their past experiences, as they sought
“to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to
bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains, to execute
the judgment written against them...”. Does it make sense to us as they then
claimed that all of the above “is the glory of his faithful ones”? It is much easier
to praise and thank God for the many blessings we have each day and night,
and to shut our eyes and ears to the many justice and integrity issues and
challenges that surround us from every direction. As we read the newspapers
and watch TV, we often experience a sense of helplessness and despair over
the violence in the world; and the perception that the relentless use of force is
the only viable option to improving relationships between nations. In recent
weeks, we have read of Jesus’ “gut-wrenching” compassion towards needy and
suffering people, but do our leaders know anything about Jesus’ compassion?



I often have Sikh taxi drivers take me to church and who share their faith with
me, just as I share mine with them. They refer to themselves as God’s “spiritual
warriors”; however, their “fight” is a spiritual one of seeking justice and peace
for all, but can we Christians claim the same thing? How many times have we
heard the claims throughout history that God was on “our side” in any conflict?



1 From “Together in Song” #TIS99
“God we praise you, God we bless you”
Words by Christopher Martin Idle 1938-
© 1982 Used with permission
Word of Life International License #2425

2 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
from “The Psalms and the life of Faith”
[Chapter 6, page 124]
©1995 Augsburg Publishing House
Minneapolis MN 55440, USA

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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: pentecost13[23]a_2014.pdf

© 2014 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A