52C*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 13C [Ordinary 20C] or [Proper 15C] 2016
Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19

Shepherding God, we come into your Holy Presence, because we need you.
We come, because we have lost our way in life and we need your guidance.

LORD God of Hosts, we come to worship you, confident that you will hear us.
We come, God of our forebears, because we have already known your mercy.

Transforming God, we come because who else can we go to in times of trouble
and distress, and we trust in the ageless mercy of our Gracious and Healing God.
We come in reverent awe of our Empowering God, because we need you to turn
us away from the darkness of sin; and towards the shining light of your acceptance. Amen.

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Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19
For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph,
to be sung to the tune “Lilies of the Covenant.”

1 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock.
O God, enthroned above the cherubim,
display your radiant glory
2 to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us!

9 You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land.
10 Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars.
11 We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea;
our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River.

12 But now, why have you broken down our walls
so that all who pass by may steal our fruit?
13 The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it.

14 Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies.
Look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine
15 that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself.

16 For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies.
May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17 Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice.
18 Then we will never abandon you again.
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.
19 Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.

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Prayers of Lament and Petition
After Pentecost 13C [Ordinary 20C] or [Proper 15C] 2016
Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19

Shepherding God, like a flock of wandering sheep, we call on you to lead us
back to the security of your care and protection. Through all of our life time,
we have known your guidance and help; but now we know we are utterly lost—
lost to our LORD God, lost to each other, and lost within our own hearts and
minds. Faithful God, we come into your Holy Presence, because we need you
to redirect us back to yourself and to your abundance of grace towards people
who should know better. “Turn us again to yourself, O LORD GOD…” so that
we may more truly love and worship you, as God’s own people once again.

Nurturing God, the psalmist used the ages-old imagery of Israel as a healthy
vine that had been transplanted into new soil, where it had grown vigorously
until it was out of control; and unruly in its growth. Creating God, the Holy One
that continues to create: renew and revive this your creation that is so damaged—
and we include ourselves amongst those damaged ones. Come to us with your
pruning shears, so that we may be renewed through your tender care; and to
be reinvigorated by the radiant light and warmth of your face as it shines in love
to give us a new understanding of ourselves are your creation, your child created
in and through love. Only then we will be able to bear the fruits of your grace in a
world that desperately needs to be made whole, through God’s life-giving powers.

Transforming God, we come to you not only in our good times; because who else
can we go to in times of trouble and distress. We come to you now because we
realise that only you can save us in our troubles; only you can liberate us from
the mess we have made whilst we lived separated from your life-renewing powers.
We come too, in reverent awe of our Empowering God, because we want to thank
you for turning us away from the darkness of our sin; and turning us towards God’s
shining light of your gentle and loving forgiveness of us. LORD God of Hosts, we
come to worship you, to praise you, and to thank you - confident that you will hear
us and respond to our praises and worship through your gracious acceptance of us. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 13C [Ordinary 20C] or [Proper 15C] 2016
Psalm 80: 1-2, 8-19

When you as an individual, or a family, or even as a community are in deep trouble
and you are praying, asking for God’s help and guidance out of your troubles, what
title do you give to God? Do you call God “Father”; or “Loving God”; or “O LORD, my
God”; or even “Listening God”? In Psalm 80, Israel was in real strife, their people had
drifted away from the rituals and celebrations of their faith in God; and now they called
on God for help, with their plea repeated three times in this psalm. In my preferred
translation, they named God as “...O LORD God of Heaven’s Armies...” What may be
called more ‘traditional’ versions name God as “LORD God of Hosts”. Other versions
name God as “All Powerful God”; as “LORD God Almighty”; as “Commander of Armies”
and “God-of-the-Angel-Armies”. In the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) God is named
“LORD God of Hosts” 261 times – so it is safe to say that it was a relevant title for God!



The long-ago people of Israel desperately needed God’s help, and so they called God
by the titles listed above thereby attempting to give God the highest and best of all possible
names; and no doubt trying with appropriate reverence to cover all their bases! “LORD
God of Hosts”, which meant or implied that God was Creator of all things - past, present
and future – both in heaven and on earth; and that God reigned over all the ‘beings’ of
heaven - its archangels and angels. The reference to the cherubim was to the two cherubim
on the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ either side of God’s throne or ‘Mercy Seat’. The psalmist also
named God as “...Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock...”
and added the names of three of Jacob’s sons as Israel’s tribal leaders. And what was the
purpose of this psalm’s three-times repeated prayer: “...Turn us again to yourself, O LORD
God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved”?



The psalmist’s prayer was for God to change their situation and circumstances, even though
they brought their current disastrous state upon themselves by their disobedience to God’s
Laws and Commandments; and through their neglect of their covenant relationship with God.
When the people of Israel turned their back on God, they could not see God’s “...face shining
on them...” Psalm 80 demonstrated a renewed faith in God’s ability to help the people of Israel
to start again in a trusting relationship with God; and that the God who judged them harshly
was also the God who would ‘save’ them and shine the light of God’s countenance upon them
once again. Psalm 4 guides us: “...Offer sacrifices in the right spirit, and trust the LORD. Many
people say, ‘Who will show us better times?’ Let your face smile on us, LORD. You have given
me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine. In peace I will
lie down and sleep, for you alone, O LORD, will keep me safe.¹ Security and peace indeed!



1 Psalm 4: 5-8 (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

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