65B*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 25B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2018
Psalm 127

We come to worship God, as we share in the delight of God’s presence.
We come as a community faith, rejoicing in the wonder of our Holy God.

We come to praise our Trustworthy God, as we commit all things to God.
We come as a community of trust, offering our songs and prayers to God.

We come to be still in God’s Holy Presence, and to rejoice in the influence
of God on our living, as justice and peace become our radiant, guiding light.
We come as a community of hope, because the glory of God’s Presence
enlivens our faith, trust and hope in the help and guidance gifted us by God. Amen.

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Psalm 127
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.
A psalm of Solomon.

1 Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.
Unless the LORD protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.

2 It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night,
anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
3 Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him.
4 Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands.
5 How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.

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Prayers of Praise and Trust
After Pentecost 25B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2018
Psalm 127

We come to worship God, strengthened and empowered by God’s Holy Presence,
as we share in the delight of being together to worship our God. We come together
as a faith community, rejoicing in the wonder of our Holy God who has chosen to be
involved in human affairs, and in the created universe; because God is the Creator
and Giver of all things; and because God has gifted something of God’s-Own-Self
to us. Through God’s healing grace, we are constantly challenged to offer all that
we are in commitment to the care and well-being of each other - and of all creation.

We come to praise our Trustworthy God, as we gather as a community that trusts in
each other; because God has called us into fellowship with each other, and with God.
Because we have been so blessed by God - that enables us to reach out to others in
need of human compassion; in need of acceptance, and in desperate need of love.
Help us, we pray, work together in our local and wider community, as we commit all
that we have and are to the greater good of our brothers and sisters. Give to us the
vision of a world blessed by God, which encourages us to faithfully serve each other.

We come to be still in God’s Holy Presence, and to rejoice in the influence of God on
our living, as God’s holy justice and peace continues to be our radiant, guiding light.
We praise our God for the influence and prayers of our friends and loved ones, all of
whom have strengthened our understanding of the Unknowable God; who is also the
Dearest Friend we could ever ask for! We come as a community of hope, because the
glory of God’s Presence enlivens our faith, trust and hope in the help and guidance
gifted us by God. We give thanks that the LORD our God has been our Fortress and
Security in times of trouble; and blesses us in so many way. All praise be to our God! Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 25B [Ordinary 32B] or [Proper 27B] 2018
Psalm 127

This psalm is attributed to King Solomon and is a “Psalm of the Ascents”, often described
as being sung by pilgrims as they journey towards Jerusalem for their regular attendance
in worship at the Temple; and the first two lines show their conviction that God is the still
centre of their world. Not that God is unmoving or unmovable; but that their world was often
spinning out of control and that God was their one, true anchor-point in all that confusion.
The Mosaic Law states: “…Each year every man in Israel must celebrate these three
festivals: the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Harvest, and the Festival of
Shelters. On each of these occasions, all men must appear before the LORD your God at
the place he chooses, but they must not appear before the LORD without a gift for him. All
must give as they are able, according to the blessings given to them by the LORD your
God…”¹ According to Jewish sources on the internet, women also attended worship, and at
the time of the Temple, the women gathered there in the ‘Women’s Court’ to pray. There were
15 steps up to that Court, which corresponded with the number of the ‘Psalms of the Ascent’.



The three special Festivals mentioned in the Deuteronomy text occur between March/April
through to September/October, so for up to eight months each year, the Jewish people were
on the move to attend worship of God “at the place he [God] chooses…” Verse one speaks
of the centrality of God in the life of faithful Jewish people, when, if God is not a vital ingredient
in one’s work or in one’s daily communal life - it was thought to be fruitless and a total waste
of energy and time! In the domestic scene that I am more familiar with, the focus for home
life and work relates more to meeting mortgage payments and trying to keep up with the life-
style of one’s neighbours! In Australia, in what has recently been described as our growing
secularism, figures show that “no religion” has overtaken “Catholicism” as people’s choice!



Professor Walter Brueggemann writes about this rather obscure psalm: “…The psalm is a
kind of poetic application of the wisdom perspective that reverence for God is where all
wisdom begins…Pilgrims to Zion/Jerusalem go to the sacred city seeking YHWH’s blessing…
Blessing in Hebrew scriptures operate from the divine presence to provide the vibrancy to
grow and thrive in the world. That blessing brings wholeness of life and hope for the future.
The urging of this brief poem is not to reject the blessing but to embrace it in all of living…”²
The only way I know how to experience “the vibrancy to grow and thrive in the world. That
blessing brings wholeness of life and hope for the future…” is to live by the words of Psalm 37:
“…Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you
do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you…Be still in the presence of the LORD, and
wait patiently for him to act…”³ How blessed are those people who live by those wise words!



1 Deuteronomy 16: 16-17 (NLT)

2 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann & William H Bellinger Junior
from “Psalms”. Psalm 127, page 543/4 © 2014 Cambridge University Press

3 Psalm 37: 4-7a (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 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:
© 2018 Joan Stott –‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Based on verses from Psalm 127.
Used with permission.

joanstott16@gmail.com
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost25[32]b_2018.pdf