65A*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 22A [Ordinary 32A] or [Proper 27A] 2014
Psalm 78: 1-7

We come to share together in the truth about
our Great Creator and our Remembering God!
The steadfast love of God never ever fails or ends.

We come to share together in the truth about our
Almighty, Compassionate and Merciful God!
The mercies of our Loving God never fail or end.

We come to share together and celebrate in the
truth about our Abiding, and Listening God who so
faithfully leads and guides us on life’s pilgrimage.
The faithfulness of our Forgiving God never ever
fails, nor does it ever end. Thankfully, we can rely
always on God’s amazing and everlasting faithfulness. Amen.

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Psalm 78: 1-7
A psalm of Asaph.

1 O my people, listen to my instructions.
Open your ears to what I am saying,
2 for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past—
3 stories we have heard and known,
stories our ancestors handed down to us.

4 We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds
of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.

5 For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children,
6 so the next generation might know them—
even the children not yet born—and they in turn will teach their own children.

7 So each generation should set its hope anew on God,
not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.

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Prayers of Trust
Pentecost 22A [Ordinary 32A] or [Proper 27A] 2014
Psalm 78: 1-7

Ever-present God, we come to share together in our experiences of God—
and to celebrate those experiences; but whilst at the same time we can list
the many attributes of God, we acknowledge that we do not even begin to
know and understand the awesome holiness of God! We can but trust in the
wonder and mystery of our God, and to worship the God we have gradually
come to know through our personal and shared experiences. We remember
with heartfelt gratitude the many blessings we have received from our Great
and Holy God; we give thanks for the many times we have been forgiven by
our Generous God; and we rejoice in the trustworthiness of our God, who
never ever fails to lovingly respond to our deepest needs and our many frailties.

Remembering God, we were created by the God of all love, faithfulness and
mercy, and so we share in this common experience, and tell others of all that
that means to us. We acknowledge that every generation has to learn to know
and trust our Faithful God, so it is our responsibility to pass on the knowledge
we have acquired of God through the many ups and downs in our own faith
journey. “We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next
generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about the Lord’s power and
mighty wonders.” May we all be committed to faithfully fulfilling this very special
responsibility and to boldly speak out about our faith and trust in our Loving God.

Faithful God, may our shared memories of God’s gracious care and compassion
always be the basic message of our worship, witness and service to and for God.
May our every act of personal or shared worship of God be a celebration of trusting
and grateful remembering; which prompts us to further worship and praise of our
Glorious God. May each generation set its hopes anew on God, never forgetting
God’s glorious miracles, and always obeying the commands of the Lord our God. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 22A [Ordinary 32A] or [Proper 27A] 2014
Psalm 78: 1-7

In the rural township where I grew up, my family attended the “less important”
Methodist Church, which had a congregation of about 60 people. It was there
that I was nurtured in the faith by some very special people. However, as small
children often do, we laughed about our very old ministers who were always in
their last appointment before retiring, and who very often did not complete their
time with us due to ill health. Again, as thoughtless children do, we also laughed
about our “ancient” Sunday School teachers, who each week so faithfully and
patiently taught us about the faith of our forebears. In hindsight, I was blessed
by the very people we had joked about; and I remember with deep thanks and
with very real humility the many things those wise, caring and faithful people
shared and lived out, as they sought to teach God’s message to the children.



Professor Walter Brueggemann in his book “Worship in Ancient Israel - An
Essential Guide” declares: “....Israel’s primal utterance in worship is an act
of remembering that is implicitly an act of hope. In such utterance Israel
anticipates that the future will feature more of the decisive transformative
goodness of YHWH that Israel had known in the past...”¹ In “Worship on
Thursday” today, we discussed the importance of several thousand years
of worshipping God, and how even with the accumulated knowledge and
experiences of those countless people, we still have to make a personal
choice and decision about accepting or rejecting the God who created, loves
and blesses us. Ancient Israel accepted and acted upon the importance of
God’s command for them “to teach them to their children, so the next generation
might know them - even the children not yet born - and they in turn will teach
their own children. So each generation should set its hope anew on God....”
May we all take this long-ago command from God to heart - and act on it!



“...Israel’s intense remembering is no exercise in either escape into the past
or retreat from the present and future. Rather, Israel’s remembering is clearly
grounded in the conviction that what has been attested from the past is the
clue to the future. What has been given Israel in the past is what will be given
in the future; what YHWH has done in the past is what YHWH will do in the
future....”¹ That extract states a profound truth about our own faith journey,
and the way we allow hope and trust to guide us in our own pilgrimage of faith.



1 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
from “Worship in Ancient Israel – An Essential Guide”
Chapter 4, page 39 & Chapter 5 page 80
© 2005 Abingdon Press
201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville TN 37202-0801 USA

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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 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

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