49A*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 7A [Ordinary 17A] or [Proper 12A] 2014
Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b

We gather to give thanks to our God and to honour God’s great goodness.
We respond with heartfelt thanks to the faithfulness of our Glorious God.

We gather to celebrate and rejoice by singing praises to God’s Holy Name.
We respond through glad songs and our prayers for the generosity of our God.

We gather to worship and revere the Lord our God, whose wondrous deeds
are beyond description and whose faithfulness is beyond our understanding.
We respond with reverent worship and songs of gratitude and praise to God’s
gracious promises and God’s trustworthiness and fidelity towards God’s people. Amen.

Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b

1 Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness.
Let the whole world know what he has done.
2 Sing to him; yes, sing his praises.
Tell everyone about his miracles.
3 Exult in his holy name; O worshipers of the LORD, rejoice!
4 Search for the LORD and for his strength, and keep on searching.
5 Think of the wonderful works he has done,
the miracles and the judgements he handed down,
6 O children of Abraham, God's servant,
O descendants of Jacob, God's chosen one.

7 He is the LORD our God. His rule is seen throughout the land.
8 He always stands by his covenant –
the commitment he made to a thousand generations.
9 This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to the people of Israel as a never-ending treaty:
11 "I will give you the land of Canaan as your special possession."

45b Praise the LORD!

Prayers of Thankfulness
Pentecost 7A [Ordinary 17A] or [Proper 12A] 2014
Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b

“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord.
O give thanks to God, call the holy name aloud, and tell the deeds
of the Lord to all the people...”1 We gather to give thanks to our
God and to honour God’s great goodness, and with heartfelt thanks
we respond to the faithfulness of our Glorious God - for the Lord is
our God, forever! This Holy and Just God is faithful to every promise
that has been made, and they were kept in the past; are kept now in
the present; and will be honoured the future. This is cause for great
celebrations, because our God is to be trusted. God always responds
generously whenever people sincerely seek God’s help and blessing.
“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord.”

“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord.
“…Sing your songs to God, O sing praises to the Lord, and make
known to all the world the Lord’s great wonders…”1 We gather
together to joyfully celebrate and to respond to God’s miracles
of grace towards all needy people; God’s compassionate care
towards all people who are lost and alone; and God’s acts of justice
and mercy towards all of the most deprived and vulnerable people.
Compassionate God, light the flame of your love and compassion
within each of us, so that our lives will tell the story of God’s mercy.
“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord.”

“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord.
“…Turn to God, your strength; seek the presence of the Lord and
remember…”1 We remember with thankful hearts and minds God’s
unchanging nature that is beyond any description; and whose great
faithfulness is beyond our understanding. We, too, have been the
recipients of God’s wondrous acts, and we respond to those gracious
deeds with reverent worship and songs of gratitude and praise for God’s
gracious promises and God’s trustworthiness and fidelity. We join with
all those who seek God’s strength to empower them in their ministry.
“Sing to God, sing praises; sing praises, sing praises to the Lord ….
God’s own promise is sure, a covenant that lasts… generations hence…” Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 7A [Ordinary 17A] or [Proper 12A] 2014
Psalm 105: 1-11, 45b

I am always fascinated and challenged about the way God acted to choose the
people of Israel to be the recipients of God’s own special favours, even though it
is believed that those people were originally a complex mixture of nomadic tribes,
and that they came from what were considered to be the “dregs” of their known
societies – and yet God chose them implying that no one is outside God’s care.
God’s plan was for them to moulded into a special and significant “people” who
would lead the world back into an intimate relationship with their Creating God.
They may have looked upon their earlier nomad’s tents as their “dwelling places”—
yet the concept of a stationary “home” on their own “land” was very significant for
them all even though their former nomadic life-style was a part of their emotional
DNA. For most people, “home” has emotional and special connections, despite its
size, value, location or the condition of their “home”; and the events that took place
on “their” land or within “their” own home remain of special significance to them.
To the former nomads, God’s promise: "I will give you the land of Canaan as your
special possession..." would have been beyond their hopes - a dream come true.

Creative pause: What would be like “home” to the world’s millions of displaced people?


When the psalmist moved past the short doxology of praise to God, and he affirmed
that God “...always stands by his covenant – the commitment he made to a thousand
generations....” The author then concentrated on God’s “covenant”; “sworn oath”; “rule”;
“commitment”; “a confirmed decree”; and “a never-ending treaty”! These words as they
were celebrated by the psalmist, seem to belong to a water-tight agreement between
God and God’s chosen people! Then, as was their traditional practice of requiring two
or more witnesses to any agreement, this covenant was “witnessed” by Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob for the “people of Israel” – to be there for all time for all their descendants.

Creative pause: “Great is your faithfulness ….and your love is unchanging..” 2


The concept of a covenant agreement is that it is a mutual arrangement, and people
are expected to honour their part of the agreement! Biblical history informs us that
the people did not always keep their part of the agreement, despite how in various
psalms there are their versions of their history and how it was celebrated in through
their liturgy and their festivals of remembrance. Unfortunately, they were not the only
people to forget to fulfil their vows of loyalty to God. I know how easy it is to simply
forget promises I have made, and situations where I could have acted very differently!

Creative pause: “For where two or three gather together because they are mine…” 3


1 From “Together in Song” #66
“Sing to God, sing praises”
© Words by Helen L Wright 1927-
Used with Permission,
Word of Life International Licence #2425

2 From “Together in Song” #154
“Great is your faithfulness, O God my Father”
Words by Thomas Obadiah Chisholm
© 1923, renewal 1951 by Hope Publishing Co.
Used with Permission

3 Matthew 18: 20 (NLT)
Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and
Meditations are from the ‘New Living Translation’, © 1996. Copyright. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189 USA.

*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:
© 2014 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year A. Used with permission.

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

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