44C*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 5C [Ordinary 12C] or [Proper 7C] 2016
Psalms 42 and 43

We come to worship the God of unfailing love - our Saviour and our God.
We come, because our hearts are breaking over painful memories of
lost opportunities, of rushed and foolish decision making; and of failure.

We come to praise the God of truth and light - our Saviour and our God.
We come, because we are anxious about the way our leaders are acting—
and we long for a time under God’s guidance of true wisdom and generosity.

We come to honour and revere the God of hope and the source of all joy—
our Saviour and our God who hears and answers our aching cries of fear.
We come, because we yearn for your presence and help in these troubled
times, as we know that there is no other source of security or unfailing love. Amen.

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Psalm 42
For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

1 As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God. When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying, “Where is this God of yours?”

4 My heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers, leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Saviour and
6 my God!

Now I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones. They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Saviour and my God!

Psalm 43

1 Declare me innocent, O God! Defend me against these ungodly people.
Rescue me from these unjust liars.
2 For you are God, my only safe haven. Why have you tossed me aside?
Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies?

3 Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me.
Let them lead me to your holy mountain, to the place where you live.
4 There I will go to the altar of God, to God—the source of all my joy.
I will praise you with my harp, O God, my God!
5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Saviour and my God!

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Prayers of Petition and Trust
After Pentecost 5C [Ordinary 12C] or [Proper 7C] 2016
Psalms 42 and 43

We come to worship the God of unfailing love, our Saviour and our God; to draw
near to the source of all grace, beauty, faithfulness and mercy; and to ask of God
for the blessings of God’s endless and empowering love to shine upon us and to
inspire us all in and through our worship, our witness and our service in God’s holy
name. Today, we pray for people for whom “love” is a painful word and who have
only known it to mean being hurt or brutalised; we pray for people who do not know
what truly selfless love is, and who have only experienced a selfish expression love.
Generous God, in your mercy pour out your love on all these people, so that they
come to understand; and help them in all things, to learn to trust in God’s holy love.

We come to worship the God of truth and light - our Saviour and our God, to gain
strength and courage to face this time of change and challenge. We are anxious
about the way things are evolving in all aspects of our living - whether it is family life
and relationships; our Church and its faith issues, fellowship or community outreach;
and the apparent lack of a sense of community cohesion on issues that affect us all.
We are also anxious about whether our Church as a worshipping community is in
fact, a source of inspiration for fairness for individuals; or to our community as a whole
over issues of justice and integrity. God of the ages, help us to pause and reflect on
your way of truth that shines on us, and to ask if our planning or strategies are true or
biased; but that in all things, that we put our trust in God - because God is trustworthy.

We come in humility to revere the God of hope and the source of all joy - our Saviour
and our God, who hears our fears and answers our yearning cries. So many times we
question our own thoughts and actions; our commitment to others; and especially our
commitment to God and in the way we worship God as if through habit! We question our
own prayer life or lack of it; and yet we long to be in a closer relationship with God, and
with our fellow pilgrims in our faith journey. Yet despite all our doubts on these matters—
we also have a certainty that the God we worship accepts our questions, our anxieties,
and our struggles – and welcomes us with open arms when we worship God and pray.
Why are we discouraged and anxious? We put our trust, our hope and joy in the God
who offers us unfailing love, ever-new hope in our God, and light and truth for our path. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 5C [Ordinary 12C] or [Proper 7C] 2016
Psalms 42 and 43

These two separate psalms - but which in some manuscripts appear as just one
psalm - pose the eternal question of balance in one’s life and faith. How do we
balance hope and despair; faith in God and an anxious, paralysing “wilderness”
experience; the past and the present situation; and trust in our faithful God and
the day–to-day realities of living in a world that very largely ignores God and the
worship of God. It is also extremely hard finding any balance between life and faith
when at the same time we are “letting go” of treasured memories and commitments
that have helped define who we are as an individual person; or we are “giving up”
those things that “tell our own family’s story”; or balancing those things with blessings
and memories of the past. The psalmist cried out “...My heart is breaking ...Now I am
deeply discouraged...” and then through God’s grace came the balancing thoughts
to bring things back into perspective: “...Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart
so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again - my Saviour and my God.”



One of the many blessings of reading and meditating on these ancient psalms is the
way they encourage us to be open and honest with God - and with ourselves. The
authors show their own strong emotions as they offer their pain and anger, as well as
their joys, to God in acts of worship. The psalms authors also express the dual and
opposing concepts they have of God’s-Own-Self – or dare I say God’s “personality”?
These ideas and concepts of God range from gentleness to harshness; from a loving
blessing to harsh judgement; from security and safety to absence and desolation; from
God as Universal King to the humble wings of a mother hen; and from jubilant hope to
isolation in times of trouble. Then this one psalmist paused, rethought and remembered
once again; and so he sang with joy because: “...each day the LORD pours his unfailing
love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life...”



The prayerful petition of the psalmist in Psalm 43 frequently strikes a chord with many
people: “...Send out your light and your truth; let them guide me. Let them lead me to
your holy mountain, to the place where you live. There I will go to the altar of God, to
God - the source of all my joy....” I believe that especially during times of high-level and
stressful political debate and activity, these words seeking God’s light and God’s truth
should be our constant prayer; as well as asking to be led by the Spirit into the presence
of God for worship, reflection and reorienting of priorities, for only you are our safe haven.

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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: pentecost5[12]c_2016.pdf