61B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 21B [Ordinary 29B] or [Proper 24B] 2015
Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c

“All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, alleluia;”1
Creating God, we come together to worship and praise you: “O praise him!”1

“O flowing water, pure and clear, make music for your Lord to hear, alleluia!”1
Wondrous God, we come together to revere and honour you: “Alleluia, alleluia!”1

Swift-rushing winds that are so strong, and clouds that sail in heaven along,
alleluia! Let all things their Creator bless, and worship him in humbleness...”1
Revealing God, we come to rejoice that you show yourself in so many ways.
You are clothed in glory and majesty; and dressed in the light of your creation.
“O praise him, O praise him, alleluia, alleluia! O praise him, alleluia, alleluia!”1 Amen.

Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c

1 Let all that I am praise the LORD. O LORD my God, how great you are!
You are robed with honour and majesty.
2 You are dressed in a robe of light.
You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;
3 you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind.
4 The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your servants.

5 You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved.
6 You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains.
7 At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away.
8 Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed.
9 Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would never again cover the earth.

24 O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.

35c Praise the LORD!

Prayers of Praise
Pentecost 21B [Ordinary 29B] or [Proper 24B] 2015
Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c

Creating God, we come together to worship and praise you: “O praise him!”1
are our never-ending songs and prayers of praise and thankfulness. We give
endless praises to our Creative God, whose wisdom is an expression of holy
love for all that has been created; whose wisdom outstrips the minds of the
wisest of people, and yet children in their simplicity, recognise and worship
the glory of God in their own ways of delight and joy-filled glee. All creation
from the largest of creatures to the tiny cells that joined bring them to birth—
celebrate and rejoice in the glories of God’s amazing creation. “O praise him!”1
“All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, alleluia;”1

Wondrous God, we come together to revere and honour you: “Alleluia, alleluia!”1
are our awed responses, as we struggle to find the words to express what the
glory of God’s creation means to each of one us. We praise God’s insights that
inspired the Holy One to give us the special delights of water and music – those
very distinctive extras that bring such joy to our lives; and from which so many
other pleasures of life flow; and through which so many people express their
own creative responses to God’s glorious gifts to us. As we have discovered in
times of drought – we are diminished when denied the wonders of plentiful water—
and so our praises take on an extra appreciation when we are so very blessed.
“O flowing water, pure and clear, make music for your Lord to hear, alleluia!”1

Revealing God, we come to rejoice that you show yourself in so many ways,
You are clothed in glory and majesty; and dressed in the light of your creation.
“O praise him!”1 is the message we share as we gather to worship and praise
you for all that you have created that brings delight to humanity; all that you have
created that gives a sense of community and company to your creatures great
and small. For God’s wildly extravagant creative powers that adds the absolutely
unnecessary beauty to eyes, ears, hearts and minds – and to all our senses—
yet which are all part of God’s generosity. Finally, for all the other elements of your
creation that enriches the life of all creation, we sing and celebrate with joy: “Alleluia!”1
“Swift-rushing winds that are so strong, and clouds that sail in heaven along, alleluia...
O fire so masterful and bright providing us with warmth and light...O praise him!”1 Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 21B [Ordinary 29B] or [Proper 24B] 2015
Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c

Whatever was the original source of the poetry of Psalm 104 and its parallels
with ancient Egyptian creation mythology, God’s glorious creation is the vehicle
in the psalms for a collection of wonderful word pictures! God “dressed in a robe
of light” with a covering robe of “honour and majesty”; and God riding across the
heavens with “the clouds your chariot...”! Even the most casual weather-watcher
knows what a cloudy “storm front” looks like, and it is easy to imagine God enjoying
a wild and glorious ride on those billowing clouds! The “winds are your messengers”
sharing the good news of God’s glory, power and majesty. The gale-force winds
would carry God’s urgent messages, while the gentle breezes carried the “snail
mail”! Fire and flames are God’s “servants” with their power to refine substances
and to filter out to humanity the truth of God’s vast and innovative creative powers.

Creative pause: “All things praise you, Lord most high, heaven and earth, and sea and sky”2


Last night it was a very clear and frosty night, and the stars and planets were very
like a “...starry curtain of the heavens...”! Through the ages, creative people have
tried to replicate the “starry curtain of the heavens...” in theatres and other similar
buildings – but can never repeat what God created through countless millennia of
what is there in outer space! The ancient concept of a layered universe, with the
heavens the “rafters” of God’s “home in the rain clouds”; and the waters underneath
the earth only adds to the orderliness in the created world; with everything in its
place, according to the decrees of all God’s life-giving and life-sustaining powers.

Creative pause: “All things praise you – night to night sings in silent hymns of light”2


The creation story is reworded “...You clothed the earth with floods of water, water
that covered even the mountains...”, but the water knew the voice of its Creator and
retreated to their designated positions; with all the seas aware of their place in the
creation story. “...At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it
hurried away...” The sea in the Old Testament is often described as a place of terror
and fear to those land-lovers, but in Australia, the sea is a place of fun and enjoyment
with all the familiar waves retreating and returning along the seashores. As God had
decreed: “...mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels...” with those creative actions
still taking place through the moving of the plates in the earth’s outer hard layer of rock—
or its “crust”, which is less than 1% of the earth’s mass or volume. New land masses
occasionally arise in the sea, and mountains occasionally change their shape and size
under the massive powers released through earthquakes and other natural phenomena.

Creative pause: “All were for your glory made, that your greatness thus displayed should all worship bring to you: so we praise you, Lord, anew.”2


1 From “Together in Song” #100
“All creatures of our God and King”
Words by St. Francis of Assisi, tr. William Henry Draper 1855-1933
Words in the Public Domain

2 From “Together in Song” #148
“All things praise you, Lord most high”
Words by George William Conder (alt) 1821-74
Words in the Public Domain

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

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