45B*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 6B [Ordinary 13B] or [Proper 8B] 2018
Psalm 130

God of anticipation: we gather to worship you in anticipation of a blessing.
We bring our fears, anxieties and pain with us, seeking God’s healing grace.

God of expectation: we gather to praise and thank you for many blessings.
We bring our sin and shame with us, seeking God’s forgiveness and renewal.

God of hope: we gather in anticipation, in expectation and in hope; because
nothing in our past, present or future can separate us from your unfailing love.
We bring our life’s joys and blessings to thank and praise our God, because
nothing physical, mental, spiritual or emotional can separate us from your love. Amen.

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Psalm 130
A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

1 From the depths of despair, O LORD, I call for your help.
2 Hear my cry, O LORD. Pay attention to my prayer.

3 LORD, if you kept a record of our sins,
who, O LORD, could ever survive?
4 But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.
5 I am counting on the LORD;
yes, I am counting on him. I have put my hope in his word.

6 I long for the LORD more than sentries long for the dawn,
yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD
there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows.
8 He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.

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Prayers of Confession and Praise
After Pentecost 6B [Ordinary 13B] or [Proper 8B] 2018
Psalm 130

God of anticipation: we gather to worship you in anticipation of a blessing from and
through your gracious mercy. Even as we come to worship you, we also come to offer
our confessions – as we need the assurance of your forgiving pardon. We also bring
our fears, anxieties and pain with us, seeking God’s healing grace, because we know
that these have blocked the intimacy of our relationship. Therefore, we confess that at
times we forget that we are only just one of a multitude of children dependant on God’s
mercy and grace; and we think that the world revolves around us and our needs. We
confess we also forget that because we have been so blessed, that we have failed to
be a blessing to other people through our worship, witness and service. Forgive, renew
and restore our relationship, so that once again we may truly worship our Faithful God.

God of expectation: we gather to praise and thank you for the many blessings you have
gifted to us. God’s generosity and gracious care of us far exceeds our expectations; and
we bring you our thanks. Even as we come to worship you, we also come to offer you
our confessions – as we need the assurance of your forgiving pardon. Therefore, we also
bring our sin and shame with us, seeking God’s forgiveness. We confess the depths of
our despair when however we try to be faithful to our commitments to you and your world—
we fail miserably. We confess that we become disillusioned with the life and witness of
our faith community; and how we fail to be your symbol of love and hope in the world.
Forgive, renew and restore all of us, but especially for our own part in that failure to love.

God of hope: we gather in anticipation, in expectation and in hope; because nothing in
our past, present or future can separate us from your unfailing love. Today we bring our
life’s joys and blessings to thank and praise our God, because nothing physical, mental,
spiritual or emotional can separate us from your love. Yet, despite this reassurance, we
also come to offer you our confessions – as we all need the assurance of your forgiving
pardon. We confess to our impatience when we are not instantly healed of our physical
weaknesses, quite forgetting our ageing bodies; we confess to disappointment that our
memory is not as good as we would like; we confess that our mood swings often make
us difficult to live with; and that our spiritual health has not been nurtured enough to be
vibrant. We confess that these seem trivial things – yet they are all part of our humanity—
and so we come seeking forgiveness and renewal, so that we may truly worship you. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 6B [Ordinary 13B] or [Proper 8B] 2018
Psalm 130

As a former nurse, many times I have watched and waited for the dawn, as I worked
with and for a patient, as together we waited to see what the dawn would bring with
it – would it bring life or death? Each of us watched and waited in hope – hope for the
best outcome for that patient. So often, the words of the Taizè mantras accompanied
me on those journeys: “Wait for the LORD, his day is near, wait for the LORD, be strong,
take heart...!”¹ – and this prayer applied to both the patient and to me! Yet, how much
more deeply personal is that prayer when the child watched over is your own baby! All
skill and experience is overwhelmed by new fears and ever-new hope. The psalmist may
also have had such an experience as he joined the watching and waiting sentries who
were on guard against possible attack. Those long night-watches can be very stressful!




What was the darkness that was being experienced by the psalmist – was it literally the
night time - in all its darkness and isolation – or was it the dark despair of sinfulness and
separation from God? We will never know, but both were very real to that author! Yet,
for the psalmist, God’s gift of daylight was near; and with the light will also come the truth.
My usual translation has these words: “…I am counting on the LORD; yes, I am counting
on him. I have put my hope in his word. I long for the LORD more than sentries long for the
dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn. O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the
LORD there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows…” However, “The Voice” offers
fresh insights: “…So I wait for the Eternal - my soul awaits rescue - and I put my hope in
his transforming word. My soul waits for the LORD to break into the world more than night
watchmen expect the break of day, even more than night watchmen expect the break of
day. O Israel, ground your hope in the Eternal. For in the Eternal lives the most loyal love,
and with him comes the most abundant redemption...”² We all wait for God’s transforming
influences on our faith, our hopes and dreams, and we hope - also on all our relationships.



The promise and hope of God’s new dawn is a reality to those who trust in God, even if we
do not know what context, style or form that new dawn will be and become. I remember when
I took our mother to say ‘goodbye’ to her dying son and my brother, and his last words to us
were: “I’ll see you in the morning!” That was his - and is also our eternal hope. The psalm
begins with darkness and ends with the promised morning light; it also begins as a personal
plea to God, but it developed into a national plea: “…O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the
LORD there is unfailing love. His redemption overflows…” Through God’s “unfailing love”, the
relationship between the penitent sinner and the penitent nation was transformed by the
radiant light of God’s mercy; so also are the depths of despair liberated by the light of grace.



1 Words from “Wait for the LORD” CD Track 3
“Wait for the LORD, his day is near”
From the Taizè Community (1978)
©Ateliers et Presses de Taizè Ltd Used with Permission,
Word of Life International License No 2425T

2 Psalm 130:5-7
“The Voice” Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society
All rights reserved.

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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 130.
Used with permission.

joanstott16@gmail.com
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost6[13]b_2018.pdf