43B*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 3B [Ordinary 11B] or [Proper 6B] 2015
Psalm 20

Trustworthy God: we gather to hear once more of your willingness to be present with us.
“Now to the King of heaven your cheerful voices raise; to him be glory given...”¹ Amen!

Reassuring God: we gather to take comfort in the promises you make to your people.
“Praise God, from whom all blessings flow, praise God, all creatures here below...”² Amen!

Faithful God: we gather to be blessed by the support and encouragement we receive
as we share together in worship within our own sacred space in your holy presence.
With confident expectation, we gather together before the God of all circumstances and
situations, and that the God we worship guides and blesses all who trust in God’s name.
Amen.

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Psalm 20

1 In times of trouble, may the LORD answer your cry.
May the name of the God of Jacob keep you safe from all harm.
2 May he send you help from his sanctuary
and strengthen you from Jerusalem.
3 May he remember all your gifts
and look favourably on your burnt offerings.

Interlude

4 May he grant your heart’s desires
and make all your plans succeed.
5 May we shout for joy when we hear of your victory
and raise a victory banner in the name of our God.
May the LORD answer all your prayers.

6 Now I know that the LORD rescues his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
and rescue him by his great power.
7 Some nations boast of their chariots and horses,
but we boast in the name of the LORD our God.
8 Those nations will fall down and collapse,
but we will rise up and stand firm.
9 Give victory to our king, O LORD!
Answer our cry for help.

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Prayers of Petition and Trust
Pentecost 3B [Ordinary 11B] or [Proper 6B] 2015
Psalm 20

Trustworthy God: we gather to hear once more of your willingness to be present
with us and to hear our prayers as we pray for other people in need of your grace
and care. We know we can come to you because you have encouraged us in our
prayer life and in our trust that you hear and answer our prayers. Today we pray for
the leaders of the nations of our world, especially those who have placed all their
hopes and trust in strategic alliances for their own benefit, rather than for the benefit
of their partners. We pray for leaders of nations who manipulate the affairs of their
nations to the detriment of their own people; and who use their own people as tools
of aggression against other nations, regardless of those people’s pain and anguish.

God of justice and peace, we pray for the leaders of the nations who put all their trust
and hopes on violent actions against other peoples and nations - all of which destroys
not only many innocent lives, but which also destroys the glory and beauty of God’s
creation. We pray too for nations who neglect or fail to understand the importance of
the worship of God by their people, and who inhibit their ability to worship their God.
We especially pray for people whose use of power is misguided enough to persecute
your faithful people in their acts of worship, and in the way they cherish their places of
worship. Reassuring God: we gather to take comfort in the promises you make to your
people that you never leave or forsake us, even in the most dire of circumstances.

Faithful God: we pray now for the leaders of our own nation; for leaders in regional and
local administrations, that justice and peace for all will be their goal and direction in all
their decision making. We also pray for and give thanks for the blessings we receive
from the support and encouragement from our friends in our faith community as we share
together in worship within our own sacred space in your holy presence. With confident
expectation, we gather together before the God of all circumstances and situations, and
pray that the God we worship will always guide and bless all who trust in God’s name. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 3B [Ordinary 11B] or [Proper 6B] 2015
Psalm 20

Psalm 20 opens with a series of faith statements that could also have been hopes or
prayers, or even wishes; or an absolute faith in the name of God! The psalm was also
a prayer for the safe-keeping of the king; hence those hope and wishes along with the
assertion of God’s faithful care over their God-appointed king. However, the psalm also
emphasises the importance and the value of prayer, and the great blessings of answered
prayer; but it is also about faith and belief in God’s great victory through God’s appointed
king. Whilst this is a prayer about and for their earthly king, the psalm also makes clear
statements about the power and majesty of the King of kings – the Lord God Almighty.



Professor Walter Brueggemann writes: “Whereas the psalm reflects a royal contest with
a military threat, the piety that permeates this psalm is an awareness that petition when
in need is a proper stance of faith before God. The prayer is not offered in anxiety or in
desperation, but in confidence that YHWH’s “victory” will be decisive in the real world.
This is the piety that trusts in the assurance, ‘Ask and it will be given’...”³ In verses 8a and 9
we hear another call to prayer in addition to a declaration of faith is God’s saving powers:
“... we will rise up and stand firm. Give victory to our king, O LORD! Answer our cry for help.”
Brueggemann used the rather old-fashioned word “piety”; however, I prefer the graces of
devotion, faithfulness, commitment to God, dedicated spirituality, holiness and godliness.



The Psalmist urged the people not to trust in the strength and powers of “...their chariots
and horses…” What would we change that concept to in modern terms? Today’s national
leaders boast in their nuclear arsenals, their fleets of submarines and warships; and their
piles of inter-continental missiles and strike airplanes; “…but we boast in the name of the
LORD our God...” There are two sets of contrasts - between “we” who trust in God; and “their”
and “those” who trust in violent powers. The author warns: “…Those nations will fall down
and collapse…” as those “strength and powers” are a contradiction to faith and trust in God’s
ultimate victory over evil! God’s powers have “power” with a quite different definition! What
can we learn from this psalm in a world that places so much emphasis on military power?



1 From “Together in Song” #769
“Now to the King of heaven”
Words by Philip Doddridge (alt)
and Isaac Watts (alt)
Words are in the Public Domain

2 From “Together in Song” #768
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Words by Thomas Ken 1637-1711 alt
Words in the Public Domain

3 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
& William H Bellinger Junior
from “Psalms” Psalm 20, page 107
© 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 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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost3[11]b_2015.pdf