64B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 23B [Ordinary 31B] or [Proper 26B] 2015
Psalm 146

Awesome God, I come to offer to you the praises of my heart, my mind and soul.
Creating God, we vow to praise and revere you for all the days of our earthly life.

Glorious God, I come to praise and honour the power of your justice and mercy.
Dependable God, we come to sing our praises to you as long as we have breath.

Transforming God, I come to worship, praise and glorify your Righteous Name—
as God’s holy actions of justice and mercy are seen and celebrated every day.
God, who makes all things new, we come together to praise our God of justice
who liberates, renews and restores those whom we so often neglect and forget.
“Praise the LORD! Let all that I am” - and all we are together - “praise the LORD.” Amen.

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Psalm 146

1 Praise the LORD! Let all that I am praise the LORD.
2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.

3 Don’t put your confidence in powerful people;
there is no help for you there.
4 When they breathe their last, they return to the earth,
and all their plans die with them.

5 But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper,
whose hope is in the LORD their God.
6 He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
He keeps every promise forever.

7 He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry.
The LORD frees the prisoners.
8 The LORD opens the eyes of the blind.
The LORD lifts up those who are weighed down.
The LORD loves the godly.
9 The LORD protects the foreigners among us.
He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked.

10 The LORD will reign forever. He will be your God, O Jerusalem,
throughout the generations. Praise the LORD!

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Prayers of Praise and Confession
Pentecost 23B [Ordinary 31B] or [Proper 26B] 2015
Psalm 146

Awesome God, even as we come to praise you, we also need to confess to
you our many failings that separate us from your holy presence. We confess
that we have our ideals and values all twisted around by the suspect values
of the world in which we live; and that our ideals are tainted by the glitz and
so-called glamour of a world that places personal gratification above the needs
of others less fortunate than ourselves. Forgive us we pray, and renew within
us a sense of your holiness; and of your justice and mercy. We give our sincere
praises to you, O God, as we seek to praise and revere you through all our days.

Glorious God, even as we come to praise you, we also need to confess to you
our many failings that separate us from your holy presence. We confess that
we like to mix with people who are powerful or popular, as if their so-called fame
adds something to our own personhood or perspective. We also confess that we
like to be noticed and are flattered by the idea that our opinions are of importance
to other people. Forgive us we pray, and renew within us a sense of your holiness;
so that our priorities are more aligned with God’s emphasis on justice and mercy for
all people – especially those for whom the “world” places little importance or value.
Dependable God, we gather to sing our praises to you as long as we have breath.

Transforming God, even as we come to praise you, we also need to confess to
you our many failings that separate us from your holy presence. We confess to
a longing to be relevant in the world in which we live; but that we often go about
it in the wrong way, because our life’s choices are based on false or questionable
standards supported or promoted by people whose so-called fame is short-lived;
or whose purpose in life is pure self-indulgence; or whose goals in life are the total
destruction of law and order. Forgive us we pray, and renew within us a sense of
your holiness; and reawaken within us, the joy of being in a right relationship with
our God, so that we only rely on the hope that God offers to us as we praise and
revere our Holy God. “Praise, O praise the LORD! Let all that I am praise the LORD.” Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 23B [Ordinary 31B] or [Proper 26B] 2015
Psalm 146

Professor Brueggemann writes about verses 3 and 4 thus: “...the psalmist declares
human capacities to be fragile, unreliable, and without staying power... without breath,
without life, without generative capacity, and consequently no help at all. The focus is
not on humanity in general but on powerful humanity, the sort of folks who seem to be
properly in charge and able to manage worldly affairs. No, says the psalmist, they are
not reliable...¹ Each of us could probably name people like this – or we may even know
such people – people who think they are - or who are in reality - “big fish” in various sizes
of ponds; and who think of themselves as the “movers and shakers” of their world. Yet
the psalmist dismisses them as irrelevant to God’s plans: “When they breathe their last,
they return to the earth, and all their plans die with them…” When compared to Psalm 8
“...You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority..”²
I think the difference is that God appointed those people in Psalm 8, whilst those people
in Psalm 146 are either self-appointed or elected by others to carry out an agreed decree.



By way of comparison the psalmist tells us: “…But joyful are those who have the God of
Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God...” That hope is based on the
reliability and dependability of the “...LORD their God. He made heaven and earth, the sea,
and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever...” The trustworthiness of God’s
promises are in stark contrast to the many political promises we hear made by “powerful
people” seeking appointment or election. We also probably know, admire and even love
people who humbly, ethically and consciously use their God-given gifts for the enrichment
of humanity as a whole; or for individuals in need. They are people whom we call “God’s
own people” – and almost inevitably – they are people of justice, mercy and blessedness.



“…The worshipping community affirms and is assured that YHWH’s policy of humility,
fidelity, compassion, and restoration is the normative ordering of the earth. It is God
worshipped in the Jerusalem Temple who guarantees, against resistance and deterrence,
that these restorative measures will eventually succeed….It is no wonder that the psalmist
issues a final doxology: Hallelujah…”¹ or “Praise the LORD!” Despite the well recognised
fear, trepidation and apprehension engendered by the sea and its inhabitants in many of the
psalms, the psalmist delights in and praises the God who: “....made heaven and earth, the
sea, and everything in them....” That is because in the overall plan of creation, the fidelity
of God is unquestioned – because God “...keeps every promise forever...” “Praise the LORD!”



1 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
& William H Bellinger Junior from “Psalms”
Psalm 146, pages 606/7 & Page 606
© 2014 Cambridge University Press

2 Psalm 8: 6 (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 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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