39C*
A Call to Worship
Day of Pentecost Year C 2016
Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

Attentive God, whose nearness is experienced through God’s Sacred Presence:
We come to worship our God, whose all-seeing vision looks with love upon us all.

Sacred Presence of God, the touch of your hands offers us your grace and mercy:
We come to revere our God, whose healing touch is a balm to our hearts and souls.

Breathe of God, whose Sacred Presence is experienced in the invisible breathing
in of God’s-Own-Self into the very essence of our beings – we worship you this day.
We come, rejoicing in our awareness of God’s Sacred Presence, as we add our
thanks and praise for God’s breathe of life that cleanses, renews and refreshes us. Amen.

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Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

24 O Lord, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Here is the ocean, vast and wide,
teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.
26 See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan,
which you made to play in the sea.
27 They all depend on you to give them food as they need it.
28 When you supply it, they gather it.
You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.

29 But if you turn away from them, they panic.
When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.
30 When you give them your breath, life is created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever!
The Lord takes pleasure in all he has made!
32 The earth trembles at his glance;
the mountains smoke at his touch.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live.
I will praise my God to my last breath!
34 May all my thoughts be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
35b Praise the Lord!

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Prayers of Praise
Day of Pentecost Year C 2016
Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

“God himself is present / let us now adore him / as with awe we come before him /
God is in our midst, now / in our hearts keep silence, / worshipping in deepest
reverence..”¹ We come, Attentive God, to worship and praise you, and we bow
down in reverent awe before your Sacred Presence. Whenever we become aware
and attentive to God’s holy presence, we are blessed with a new experience of God
with us, and for this we offer our praises for God’s generosity. We confess that there
are times when we wish that God was not so attentive, as we are often ashamed
when God’s eyes are upon us; yet in times of stress and anxiety, we plead for God’s
presence to heal, strengthen and help us; and we are so grateful, as God’s healing
touch is a balm to our hearts and souls, because God looks on us with love and mercy.
“…May all our thoughts be pleasing to him, for we rejoice in the LORD. Praise the LORD!”

“Breathe on me, breath of God, / fill me with life anew, / that I may love all that you love, /
and do what you would do...”² Breathe of God, we come now with both our personal
and shared prayers, and we rejoice in our awareness of God’s Sacred Presence as we
add our thanks and praises for God’s breathe of life that cleanses, renews and refreshes
us. We offer to God our praises because we accept that as God’s breath enters our bodies,
so we are consecrated to live and act as God’s holy creature here - where we are placed.
“…When you give …your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth…”

Creating God, we come together today to praise you because you have placed us in the
midst of your beloved creation, and wherever we look, we see expressions of God’s-Own-
Self surrounding us - reminding us of God’s own beauty, powers and wisdom. We come
“…to sing to the Lord as long as we live. We will praise our God …”; and for as long as
we have any breath in our lungs and any life in our bodies, we will indeed rejoice in the Lord.
Sacred Presence of God, the comforting touch of your hands on our minds, hearts and
souls is an offering to us of your perfect grace, as you enfold us within your Being and—
“…May the glory of the Lord continue forever!... Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Day of Pentecost Year C 2016
Psalm 104: 24-34, 35b

The selected verses of this psalm open with these words: “O Lord, what a variety
of things you have made..!” Reading and meditating on these verses I could not
help noticing the physicality that the psalmist used in describing God’s creating acts:
“seeing”; an “open hand”; “breath”; “glance”; and “touch”. Yet how else could that
long-ago psalmist describe the invisible mystery of God at work, except through the
everyday actions that are familiar to us all – looking, opening our hands, breathing,
and/or touching? Sister Monica Brown wrote a mantra about that amazing invisible
mystery of God at work in and amongst us: “Invisible, unveiling him; invisible mystery;
sacredness enfolding us; here and now.”³ The mystery of God’s creative acts and
the reality of life because of God’s breath are all beyond any openness, sight or touch.



The psalmist used the concept of “breath” to describe this sacredness: “...When you
take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When you give them your breath,
life is created…” Through God’s breath, we are enfolded in “sacredness” - which the
psalmist variously described as being set apart or consecrated to God; as our spiritual
dedication or commitment made to God. By recognising God’s holy presence within us,
this creates a reality that remains reverent, holy and untouched by outside or other
influences; a committed life is lived exclusively to and for God; and it is set aside as
hallowed as for sacramental use. Therefore, if we are accept that it is through God’s
grace that we are “enfolded in sacredness”, that means that our whole being is sacred.



Which of those physical aspects is the most personal, as described by the psalmist as being
involved in God’s continuous and invisible creating mysteries? When we look at things, our
brain deciphers and recognises what we are seeing. When we touch something or someone,
the nerves in our hands also send a message to our brain which again acts to tell us what
we are sensing; but our emotions enter into that touching as well, so there is a double impact.
The same applies to when we open our hands – emotions and senses are both involved. I
believe that God’s breath is the most personal of all the sensations the psalmist describes,
because that breath becomes part of who we are, apart from giving us both spiritual and
physical Life. As the breath of life, God’s own being is carried through into every one of our
bodily systems as we inhale and exhale. Just as oxygen cleanses our blood of impurities, so
too does the breath of God renew and invigorate our spiritual being, as we become one in God.



1 From “Together in Song” #121
“God himself is present”
Words by Gerhard Tersteegen.
Translated by Honor Mary Thwaites
© M.R. Thwaites
Used with personal permission.

2 From “Together in Song” #407
“Breathe on me, breath of God”
Words in the Public Domain

3 From “Invisible Mystery Comfort” CD
Words and music by Sister Monica Brown
© 2008 Monica Brown & Emmaus Productions
Used with personal permission

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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: pentecostc_2016.pdf