44A*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 2A [Ordinary 12A] or [Proper 7A] 2014
Psalm 86: 1-10, 16-17

Holy God, the compassionate “You” upon whom we call for help and guidance:
Come near to us now, O God; come near to us to hear and answer our prayers.

Almighty God, the trustworthy “You” upon whom we call for blessing and support:
Come near to us, O God, and may the light of your unfailing love shine on us all.

Comforting God, the generous “You” upon whom we can depend on for stability
in an uncertain world; and the “You” upon whom we call for mercy and forgiveness:
Come near to us, O God, to liberate us from all that distorts your messages of love,
hope and encouragement, and from all that threatens our commitment to you. Amen.

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Psalm 8

1 O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise.
They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers –
the moon and the stars you have set in place –
4 what are mortals that you should think of us,
mere humans that you should care for us?

5 For you made us only a little lower than God,
and you crowned us with glory and honour.
6 You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things –
7 the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.

9 O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!

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Prayers of Petition and Trust
Pentecost 2A [Ordinary 12A] or [Proper 7A] 2014
Psalm 86: 1-10, 16-17

Holy God, the compassionate “You” upon whom we call for help
and guidance: Come near to us, O God, come near us now to hear
and answer our prayers. We come to “You” today, because we have
always depended on “You” - and “You” have never before let us down.
We come as individuals, and as a community, to call on our God’s
unfailing love for all who ask for your aid, and with a deep longing
to receive a response to help us in our special need. Great God of
the impossible and possible, “You” alone are God, and “You” alone
are able to turn around our situation; and to offer us a future hope
within God’s great miracles of mercy, forgiveness and gracious love.
Lord of great mercy, all the nations will come and bow before you.

Comforting God, the generous “You” upon whom we can depend on for
of stability in an uncertain world; and the “You” upon whom we call for
signs from you that your favour still rests on us, and all faithful people who
always seek to worship and serve you. Because of the pressures on us,
we have become despondent; so come near to us O God, to liberate us
from all that threatens our commitment to our Listening God; and from all
that distorts your messages of love, hope, strength and encouragement.
O God of enduring comfort, all the nations will come and bow before you.

Almighty God, the trustworthy “You” upon whom we call for blessing
and support: Come near to us, O God, so that the light of your unfailing
love will shine brightly on us to give all of us hope. We come seeking
your strength, help and protection, for you alone are able to guide us
through all that threatens and frightens us. We look to “You” – O God
of all hope and transformation - to lift us out of our fog of despair and
grieving, and to show us the way forward, because we are committed
to the worship and honouring of your Holy Name. Be for us now, all that
you have always been – faithful, trustworthy, generous and forgiving.
O God of unfailing love, all the nations will come and bow before you. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 2A [Ordinary 12A] or [Proper 7A] 2014
Psalm 86: 1-10, 16-17

According to Professor Walter Brueggemann in his book “The Psalms and
the Life of Faith” in chapter 2 entitled “The Psalms as Prayer”, he wrote:
“The Psalms are prayers addressed to a known, named, identifiable You.
This is the most stunning and decisive factor in the prayers of the Psalter.
Prayer is a direct address to, and conversation and communion with, an
agent known from a shared treasured past...” “....The utterance of “You”
as the centre of speech distinguishes prayer ...” “....Israel understood that
life never begins in “I”, but always in “You”...” “...Israel had no need for
exposition or clarification, for the sum of what is known, named and trusted
in is You...” “This unutterable “You” who is uttered in Israel is beyond all
conventions of hope or control. This “You”, however, is not undifferentiated
mystery. This “You”, whose face is not seen and whose voice is heard
(see Deut 4:12) is known by the story that comes always with the name....”¹
We, too, know the “You” to whom we pray, because of our own story of
a life lived with that great Unknown, yet Knowable God of all possibilities.



Later on in the book Professor Brueggemann wrote: “....Israel’s trust in
impossibilities from God that shatter and re-characterise life is not confined
to the great hymns of praise. The same usage is employed in complaint
songs..... That is, trust in the freedom of God to work a newness functions
in ancient Israel as a resource for personal distress...”² Although I had made
a personal commitment to serve wherever God called me, nevertheless, I
was quite amazed and rather fear-filled at the challenges when invited to
serve God in the “world scene”. The many “what-if”; “what for”; and “why me”
questions had to be faced and dealt with, in order to be free to accept the
invitation to this service; together with its very scary financial implications.
Through God’s amazing grace, all these fears were overcome and resolved.



Many years ago I remember attending a meeting and hearing an address
from very famous African-American woman, who, arising from her traumatic
historical and personal story, spoke from the heart when she proclaimed:
“God always calls improbable people for impossible tasks...”, and she then
proceeded to list some of those “hopeless” and “improbable” people. It was
because of those improbable people’s awareness of their own human fallibility
and often their own incompetence, that cleared the way for God to act as their
support and encouragement. There were/are no problems with personal egos—
just a complete dependence on God’s guidance, direction and help to achieve
their seemingly impossible task/s. Was the author of this Psalm (David?) one
who trusted in God, as he sang: “O Lord, you are so good…so full of unfailing
love for all who ask your aid. Listen closely to my prayer, O Lord, hear my urgent
cry.”… “For you are great and perform great miracles. You alone are God….”



1 “The Psalms and the Life of Faith”
By Professor Walter Brueggemann
Chapter 2: pages 34, 35, 37 & 39

2 Chapter 9: page 177
©1995 Augsburg Publishing House
Minneapolis MN 55440, USA

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from the ‘New Living Translation’, © 1996. Copyright. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA.

*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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost2[12]a_2014.pdf

© 2014 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A