43C*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 4C [Ordinary 11C] or [Proper 6C] 2016
Psalm 5: 1-8

Loving God, it is because of your unfailing love for us, that we revere you.
We gather together, hoping yet again to know your endless love and mercy.

Faithful God, it is because of your guidance and help, that we honour you.
We gather together, trusting again in your willingness to hear our prayers.

Compassionate God, it is because of your promises that we come to worship
you, even as we are weighed down by the fears and troubles that besiege us.
We gather together this day, even though we are struggling with the issues of
life and living, we come in expectation of receiving again your liberating grace. Amen.

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Psalm 5: 1-8

1 O LORD, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.
2 Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God,
for I will never pray to anyone but you.
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD.
Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

4 O God, you take no pleasure in wickedness;
you cannot tolerate the slightest sin.
5 Therefore, the proud will not be allowed to stand in your presence,
for you hate all who do evil.
6 You will destroy those who tell lies.
The LORD detests murderers and deceivers.

7 Because of your unfailing love,
I can enter your house; with deepest awe I will worship at your Temple.
8 Lead me in the right path, O LORD, or my enemies will conquer me.
Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way to turn.

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Prayers of Lament and Trust
After Pentecost 4C [Ordinary 11C] or [Proper 6C] 2016
Psalm 5: 1-8

Loving God, it is because of your unfailing love for us that we revere and worship
you; and that we can bring to you our failings, all our apparent failures, and our
despair over the ongoing and troubling events affecting our lives. Today we bring
to you our anxieties and ask that you will strengthen and encourage us to come
through this time of despair and dismay. Our plans did not include the possibility
of disasters, and so we come to you to pour out our pleas for guidance and help.
Like the psalmist we pray: “O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning.
Listen to my cry for help… Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord…” We trust that
you will hear and answer us in ways that are in accordance with your will and plan.

Faithful God, in the past you have blessed and guided us, and for this, we give you
our sincere thanks. It is because you have blessed us so much in the past, that
we have the courage to come to you, confessing our needs for your help again.
God of justice and peace, you have always acted against the evil and wickedness
that lives in humanity’s inner being, and which influences their thoughts and actions;
and today we ask that we may be lead and guided into the right pathways, and through
your gracious mercy, show us which way to turn to direct us out of our difficulties.

Compassionate God, it is because of your promises that we come to worship you,
and because of God’s unfailing love that we can with deepest awe, trustingly worship
you this day - even though we are so anxious! We gather together in the fellowship
of your people, gaining strength from their support and encouragement; and in real
anticipation and expectation that you will hear our prayers; that we will again receive
God’s liberating grace and mercy, so that we can continue on the path set before us. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 4C [Ordinary 11C] or [Proper 6C] 2016
Psalm 5: 1-8

Professor Walter Brueggemann, on pages 53 and 54 in his little book “Praying
the Psalms” has what could be described as an additional introduction or even
and explanation of the language of the psalms. He wrote: “....The psalms are
‘embodied’ prayers. There is no or little slippage between what is thought/felt
and what is said. The Psalms are immediate. There is no mediation to ‘clean up’,
censor, or filter what is going on. This directness reflects a readiness to risk in
an uncalculating way with this one ‘from whom no secrets are hid.’ The psalms
dare to affirm that, as there are no secrets from God, so there likely is less self-
deception at work in these prayers. These prayers are marked by candour and
robustness with the God who ‘searches the heart’ (Jeremiah 17:10; Proverbs 20:
27)...Liberated prayer of this kind is filled with passion, that is, with conviction that
in these words, something is at issue that can be resolved in more than one way...
Prayer stays very close to the realities of life in these poems...”¹ Psalm 5 has that
approach! It is a lament, as the psalmist prays: “...pay attention to my groaning…”



“…Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to
you and wait expectantly…” As we try to overcome the burdens of yesterday’s sin or
disappointments, or we celebrate yesterday’s joys, beauty and blessings; or as we try
to delete the troubling dreams and fears of the night, or the blessed rest and peace
that we enjoyed; it is good to remember that we are blessed with a fresh start each
new day. About 400 years later than Psalm 5 was created, the probably anonymous
author of Lamentations wrote five laments in an acrostic format, similar to the emotions
associated with the slow and mournful music of a dirge. However, the light of hope
appeared at the end of their tunnel in their third lament: “…Yet I still dare to hope when
I remember this. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! By his mercies we have
been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh
each day….² That hope became a reality with their release from captivity in Babylon,
and the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem with all its rituals when worshipping God.



If we take the palmists words to our own heart and mind, we can join him in praying
and worshipping our God “…Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house with
deepest awe….” As we gather to worship God our sincere personal prayer is “Lead
me in the right path, O LORD… Tell me clearly what to do, and show me which way
to turn…” Verses seven and eight could be our creed or a definition of faith in God.



1 Text by Professor Walter Brueggemann
From “Praying the Psalms” [chapter 4, pages 53/4]
© 2007 Cascade Books a Division of Wipf & Stock Publishers

2 Lamentations 3: 21-23 (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 scholarship and 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:
© 2016 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost4[11]c_2016.pdf