46B*
A Call to Worship
After Pentecost 7B [Ordinary 14B] or [Proper 9B] 2018
Psalm 48

We come together to receive the grace through which God blesses us.
We give thanks for God’s Word, and for the Sacraments of the Church.

We come together to share in the grace through which God blesses us.
We give thanks for the fellowship of believers that enlivens and blesses us.

We come together to participate in the means of grace through which God
gifts to us as we grow together through the Spirit’s blessings of God’s love.
We praise God and give thanks for the blessings of prayer, for God’s
merciful forgiveness of confessed sin; for the challenges of living out the
Gospel; and seeking justice, peace and equity for all of God’s creation. Amen.

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Psalm 48
A song. A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

1 How great is the LORD, how deserving of praise,
in the city of our God, which sits on his holy mountain!
2 It is high and magnificent; the whole earth rejoices to see it!
Mount Zion, the holy mountain, is the city of the great King!

3 God himself is in Jerusalem’s towers, revealing himself as its defender.
4 The kings of the earth joined forces and advanced against the city.
5 But when they saw it, they were stunned; they were terrified and ran away.
6 They were gripped with terror and writhed in pain like a woman in labour.

7 You destroyed them like the mighty ships of Tarshish shattered by a powerful east wind.
8 We had heard of the city’s glory, but now we have seen it ourselves—
the city of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
It is the city of our God; he will make it safe forever.
Interlude

9 O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.
10 As your name deserves, O God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth.
Your strong right hand is filled with victory.
11 Let the people on Mount Zion rejoice.
Let all the towns of Judah be glad because of your justice.
12 Go, inspect the city of Jerusalem. Walk around and count the many towers.
13 Take note of the fortified walls, and tour all the citadels,
that you may describe them to future generations.
14 For that is what God is like. He is our God forever and ever,
and he will guide us until we die.

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Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
After Pentecost 7B [Ordinary 14B] or [Proper 9B] 2018
Psalm 48

God of all eternity, we praise and thank you that you are the Timeless God who has
spoken to every generation, offering a trusted relationship, mercy and hope to people
who seek to know and therefore to worship you. Throughout all time, you have blessed
your people with the means through which your grace has inspired and challenged
them. Today, we come together to receive the grace through which God blesses us;
and we give thanks for God’s Holy Word, and for the Sacraments of the Church that
bless and strengthen us; and through which we become aware yet again of your holy
presence within and all around us. “…God has spoken, praise him for his open Word…”²

God of parental mercy, we praise and thank you that you have invited us into the family
of your grace, and that through your gracious hospitality and generosity, we are bonded
together as your people in fellowship with you and with each other. We give thanks that
we can come together to share in the grace through which God blesses us - within the
fellowship of believers - where we are enlivened and blessed. We praise you and give
thanks that through Baptism and receiving the broken bread and wine, we are one with
each other and with our LORD. “…God has spoken, praise him for his open Word…”²

God of Steadfast Love, we praise and thank you that you have inspired within us the
desire and will to reach out to people in need of compassion and love. Today, we
come together to participate in the means of grace through which God gifts to us as
we grow together through the Spirit’s blessings of God’s love. We give thanks that
we have been blessed with the confident hope to share your love with people who are
grieving, lonely, impoverished in body mind or spirit; or who are bereft of any comfort
or consolation. May your presence with them become known because of the caring of
your people for these troubled people. We praise and thank God for the blessings of
prayer; that we can offer to God the suffering of people desperate for compassion and
care; that God mercifully forgives all confessed sin. We thank God for the challenges of
living out the Gospel; and seeking justice, peace and equity for all of God’s creation.
“… Thanks to God whose Word is answered by the Spirit’s voice within.… grace abundant
has supplied… God has spoken, God has spoken praise him for his open Word…”²

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A Personal Meditation
After Pentecost 7B [Ordinary 14B] or [Proper 9B] 2018
Psalm 48

As an exercise as part of in spirituality workshops I used to run, I invited people to write
their own versions of a psalm – whilst suggesting various types of Psalms that they
may like to explore – especially the penitential Psalms. This as one way of learning to
appreciate and understand the Psalms, and also a ‘safe’ and non-threatening way to
articulate one’s faith in a reflective manner. Professorial brothers Rolf and Karl Jacobson
suggest “…the joy of reading Hebrew poetry comes from the ‘feel’ of parallelism and
learning to ‘enjoy the ride.’…”¹ This is also another approach to writing prayers, basing
them on selected, appropriate Psalms for the relevant prayer themes. You might like to
try writing either of these exercises - perhaps even using today’s Psalm to begin with—
this would also help you to better understand this Psalm, which to us may seem odd.



Psalm 48 is to us a rather different or strange Psalm, because whilst we may have a
deep love and affection for a particular place of worship for family or personal reasons,
the language of this psalm is not how we would normally describe it. The Jacobson
brothers write: “…Perhaps the best way for a modern [person] to understand what
Jerusalem meant to the ancient Israelites is to liken the role that Jerusalem played for
them to the role that the Bible or Holy Communion plays for us modern Christians.
Similar to the holy words of the Bible or the holy body and blood of the LORD’s Supper,
many ancient Israelites looked on the city – its walls, its temple, its strength – as a
‘means of grace’. Thus they could look at the city and say, ‘Walk about Zion, go all
around it, count its towers… Tell the next generation that this is God, our God for ever
and ever…”² Other authors suggest that the city of Jerusalem was God’s connection
or link between heaven and earth; between our own worship and God’s Holy Presence.



From a very unpromising beginning as a loosely connected group of nomadic people
with no understanding of worship or of whom they did worship - the children of Israel—
God’s chosen people - had come a long way! To live in the holy city of Jerusalem with
their own glorious Temple built for the worship of the One True God was like a dream
come true for them all. After such an unsettled existence, the Jerusalem Temple with
its familiar Ark of the Covenant; the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments in their
sacred place; the Mercy Seat with its Cherubims; and their own robed priests, were
some of God’s most holy gifts to them as a nation – and they praised God for them all.
For a better understanding of the role of the Temple to the people of Israel, read 1 Kings 8:
for the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant; and King Solomon’s dedication of the Temple.



1 Text by Professors Rolf A & Karl N Jacobson
From “Invitation to the Psalms – a readers guide for discovery & enlightenment”
© 2013 ‘Introduction’: Page 12 & Part 2 pages 84/5
Baker Academic, a Division of Baker Publishing Group Grand Rapids
MI 49516-6287, USA

2 From “Together in Song” #431
“Thanks to God whose word was spoken”
© Words by Words by R.T. Brooks
Used with Permission.
ONE LICENSE, License #A-604543

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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 48.
Used with permission.

joanstott16@gmail.com
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost7[14]b_2018.pdf