57C*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 18C [Ordinary 25C] or [Proper 20C] 2016
Psalm 79: 1-9

We gather in God’s holy presence, and we ask for help to confess our sin.
“....Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name....”

We gather to worship our forgiving God, even as we confess our personal sin.
“...O God...Save us and forgive our sins for the honour of your name...”

We gather to worship our liberating God, even as we confess our shared sin and
our failure to be true to our own standards, and all the promises we made to God.
“...Do not hold us guilty for the sins of our ancestors! Let your compassion quickly
meet our needs, for we are on the brink of despair... “O God of our salvation...!” Amen.

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Psalm 79: 1-9
A psalm of Asaph.

1 O God, pagan nations have conquered your land, your special possession.
They have defiled your holy Temple and made Jerusalem a heap of ruins.
2 They have left the bodies of your servants as food for the birds of heaven.
The flesh of your godly ones has become food for the wild animals.
3 Blood has flowed like water all around Jerusalem; no one is left to bury the dead.
4 We are mocked by our neighbours, an object of scorn and derision to those around us.

5 O Lord, how long will you be angry with us? Forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you—
on kingdoms that do not call upon your name.
7 For they have devoured your people Israel, making the land a desolate wilderness.
8 Do not hold us guilty for the sins of our ancestors!
Let your compassion quickly meet our needs, for we are on the brink of despair.
9 Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name.
Save us and forgive our sins for the honour of your name.

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Prayers of Lament and Confession
After Pentecost 18C [Ordinary 25C] or [Proper 20C] 2016
Psalm 79: 1-9

Welcoming God, we gather in God’s holy presence, and we ask that you help us
to confess to you our sin, both our personal and our shared sin, experiencing as
we are and have done, our separation from you as the Source of our life and of all
that is holy and good in life, living and relationships. In faith and trust in you, we
gather because we also need encouragement and the loving support of each other,
even as we make our confessions to our Listening God. We also confess to you,
just how easy it is to silence that “still, small voice” within us, which reminds us of
our need for confession and God’s forgiveness; so with God’s help and a clean slate,
we can daily live a more blessed life as we seek to give honour and glory to God.

“O God of our salvation...” you who frees us from our sin and failures through our
confessions, and who enables us in faith to trust in you and to start again; we ask
that we do not become proud that we have confessed our sinfulness, as if that will
make us more holy than our neighbour, because our sin-filled lives are nothing for
which we can be proud. This only increases the burden of our sin if we follow that
path! We pray that we will be forgiven for those times when through our words and
actions, we have led others into sin and unfaithfulness to you. We acknowledge
that the holy path of Christian living is narrow and difficult; and we ask that you will
guide and bless us on this our earthly pilgrimage, as we seek to praise our God.

Ever-faithful God, in your holy presence we give you our thanks for your merciful
grace and forgiving generosity. However badly we feel about our sin and failures,
our emotions and remorse are nothing in comparison to the pain we have caused
to the Being of our God by our sin and lack of trust. Although we may not agree with
or even understand the messages of vengeance expressed in some of the lament
psalms, we give thanks that we can learn from their bitter experiences; and from the
ageless message of God’s mercy and grace generously given to repentant sinners.
“...Help us for the glory of your name... forgive our sins for the honour of your name...” Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 18C [Ordinary 25C] or [Proper 20C] 2016
Psalm 79: 1-9

Personal grief is a shattering experience that takes many forms and is caused by
many types of loss and with varying degrees of grief. The world is indebted to
Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross (1926–2004) who demystified grief and its experiential
stages as described through her books and lectures. Having read “On Death and
Dying” and “Death: the Final Stage of Growth”, I was fortunate enough to attend
one of her lectures when she visited Australia. However, in many ways, that ‘head’
knowledge did not assist me very much in dealing with my own losses over the
years. It is fine to be able to recognise the varying emotions and think – ‘nearly
there’ – but it is another thing to reach ‘there’, and then be able to fully move on!



The people of Israel had suffered a shattering series of losses as the full extent of
the ravages of the Babylonians became clear over an extended period of time, which
varied according different historical records, but it was between 609-539 BC. It was
extraordinarily ironic that Israel’s spiritual heritage and ownership of the land and
its fields and vineyards were maintained and nurtured by the poorest of their people—
instead of their spiritual leaders, whose role it was to maintain and foster their faith,
worship practices and hope in YHWH! “...the captain of the guard allowed some of the
poorest people to stay behind to care for the vineyards and fields…”¹ Because of the
failures of Israel’s spiritual and religious leaders, they were sent into exile in Babylon.



We continue to ascribe to God our human emotions, yet how else can we envisage
the anguish and grief that God experienced through the failures of Israel’s spiritual
leaders; but did the Israelites fully understand the totality of the sin of their forebears?
There are suggestions that this psalm was composed and sung mid-way through the
time in exile, as the psalmist expressed the people’s pain and remorse, especially
over the violation and destruction the Temple, but they still had to learn all of their
painful lessons about their own faithlessness to God, and of the true worship of God.
The words: “...O LORD, how long will you be angry with us...?” offers the theory that
God allowed this disaster to occur because of Israel’s disobedience; but this prayer is
still a lament and recognition of the need to also confess their sin of a lack of faith in
their God. If God ‘allowed’ this exile to occur, their prayer was an admission that they
were reflecting on their own sin and the sin of the forebears! “...Do not hold us guilty
for the sins of our ancestors! Let your compassion quickly meet our needs, for we are
on the brink of despair. Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your
name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honour of your name...” Were those people
ready to admit their own lack of faith and obedience, or was it easier to blame others?



1 2 Kings 25: 12 (NLT)

2 Matthew 5:2 (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: pentecost18[25]c_2016.pdf