66A*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 24A [Ordinary 33A] or [Proper 28A] 2017
Psalm 123

We come to rejoice and: “Sing praise to God, who reigns above…”
Who is: “…the God of all creation, the God of power, the God of love…”¹

We come to: “…gladly pay our due of praise in joyful celebration…”
“…Take courage in the LORD, my heart… to God all praise and glory!¹

We come to worship: “…the God of our salvation; with healing balm my
soul he fills, and every grief he gently stills: to God all praise and glory!¹
We come to praise and give thanks for: “…What God’s almighty power
has made, that will he ever cherish, and will…with loving kindness nourish…”¹

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Psalm 123
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

1 I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.
2 We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy,
just as servants keep their eyes on their master,
as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal.

3 Have mercy on us, LORD, have mercy,
for we have had our fill of contempt.
4 We have had more than our fill of the scoffing
of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant.

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Prayers of Trust and Petition
After Pentecost 24A [Ordinary 33A] or [Proper 28A] 2017
Psalm 123

Trustworthy God: we come to rejoice and: “Sing praise to God, who reigns above…
the God of all creation, the God of power, the God of love…”¹ We come too, today
in joy-filled response to the God who has heard our prayers in the past; and who will
continue to hear our prayers of praise and thankfulness; and our prayers for mercy
and forgiveness. We come too, to pray for people in need; for people who have no
experiences of trusting relationships; and who only know violence, hatred and fear.
Come to people in their need and bring to them the peace and security of your love—
as you will never let them down or leave them vulnerable to insecurity or fear. You are
the Holy One who has created all good things; and we offer you our thanks and praise.

Faithful God: we come to: “…gladly pay our due of praise in joyful celebration. Take
courage in the LORD, my heart… to God all praise and glory!¹ We come too, in joy-filled
response to the God who empowers and enables us to meet the challenges of each
day with the knowledge and hope that: “…nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our
worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love
…”² We come praying for a new awareness and understanding of what it means to
really trust in God’s love; and to recognise that in that trusting relationship – all is well!

Ever-Present God: we come today to worship: “…the God of our salvation…” In joy-filled
response to the God who comes: “…with healing balm my soul he fills, and every grief
he gently stills...”;¹ and to accept that: “…What God’s almighty power has made, that
will he ever cherish, and … with loving kindness nourish…”¹ We come too, to pray for
people who are suffering in mind, body and spirit, and who cling to their belief that they
are not worthy of God’s loving mercy; or that they are not valued by God because of their
past mistakes or experiences. Forgiving and Merciful God, may they find in you, the Quiet
Centre of life, love and mercy; and the new insights that with God, all things are possible. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 24A [Ordinary 33A] or [Proper 28A] 2017
Psalm 123

In 1976 in Nairobi, Kenya, I heard the Rev Dr Donald English deliver a Bible study
on “Forgiveness” – and he shared a story about his dog named Abigail. Whenever
the dog did something wrong, such as digging a hole in the garden; or destroying
something in her enthusiasm; he would say in a stern voice: “Abby, what have you
done?” Abby would drop her head and then lookup pleadingly at Donald asking for
his forgiveness. She immediately took up her energetic life as soon as Donald patted
her on the head in loving forgiveness. For me, the connection with this story and
Psalm 123 is the trusting relationship that was evident between Abby and Donald; and
the trust those servants had in their employers as they waited for “…the slightest signal…”



Professor Walter Brueggemann describes this psalm as “…One of the loveliest prayers
in all of Scripture, simple, direct, trusting and confident, spoken out of need and hope…
How is it that a servant looks at a master? How does a maid look in the face of a mistress?
Here is no suspicion, no fear, no dread, no resentment; otherwise the analogue would not
work as a prayer. Rather, the look is one of gladness, awe, dependence, and glad sub-
missiveness that is rooted in trust…The ‘so’ at the end of verse 2 names ‘YHWH our God’;
the look is one of hope that awaits mercy…It is mercy that is the grounds of the prayer and
the basis for the relationship…”³ as it was between Donald and Abby – trust and mercy!



In Shakespeare’s old wisdom: “The eyes are the window of the soul” is clearly illustrated in
this psalm as there is a continuing emphasis on “eyes” and “looking”: “I lift my eyes to you,
O God… We keep looking to the LORD our God for his mercy...” This psalm is both a private
and a shared experience – as every act of shared worship of God must be. We are part of the
whole body and individual parts of it in our worship of God – but there will be varying depths
of trust in God, because our life experiences are so different. However, surely there must be
a balancing out in the levels of trust in God as we bear witness to God’s faithfulness towards
us all. While some people’s levels of trust are low, other’s will be higher; and so we lift each
other up on a way together towards our home in God, praying: “…Have mercy on us, LORD…”



1 From “Together in Song” #110
“Sing praise to God who reigns above”
© Words by Johann Jakob Schütz (Vs 1)
Words are in the Public Domain
Words by Honor Mary Thwaites (Vs 5)
© M.R. Thwaites Used with personal permission.

2 Romans 8: 38 (NLT)

3 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
& William H Bellinger Junior from “Psalms”
Psalm 123, page 531
© 2014 Cambridge University Press

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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 help and inspiration so frequently available from the writings of Professor Walter Brueggemann and Professorial brothers Rolf and Karl Jacobson; and the resources from "The Text this Week" (Textweek).

If the Prayers and/or Meditation are used in shared worship, please provide this acknowledgement:
© 2017 Joan Stott –‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Based on verses from Psalm 123.
Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost24[33]a_2017.pdf