67B*
A Call to Worship
Reign of Christ the King, Year B [Ordinary 34B] or [Proper 29B] 2012
Psalm 132: 1-12

Come, let us gather together in worship in the house of the Lord.
We come to give thanks for the heritage of our faith in the Lord our God.

Come, let us gather together to praise and honour the King of kings.
We come to give thanks for the faithful promises of the Lord our God.

Come, we who love and serve the Lord, let us worship and bow down—
and sing our praises before God, the Holy One, the Lord God Almighty,
All who love the Lord are called to be God’s agents for change in a
renewal of a commitment to God of our worship, witness and service. Amen.

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Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Reign of Christ the King, Year B [Ordinary 34B] or [Proper 29B] 2012
Psalm 132: 1-12

God of relationships, we come to praise and worship you this day, in the
place we call our spiritual home. We acknowledge and understand that
God is not confined to any one place, or to any specific time, but it is
here in this significant place, sometimes also known to our forebears,
where we can come together as a community of faith to praise and thank
our God for the wonderful blessings we receive every day. There are
also many special symbols from our past life together that add to the
richness and beauty of our worship of our Timeless God, and this brings
our heritage into our current reality, and for these, and many other gifts
of God’s grace and mercy, we give our most sincere thanks and praise.

Pilgrim’s God, we also come to offer our thanks and praise to you for the
many wonderful promises that you have made throughout the centuries.
You have promised your abiding presence with us in times of joy and sorrow;
you have promised that we will be upheld and strengthened in our struggles
by the God who is our Rock and Fortress; you have promised to be our
Guide and Hope when we have lost our way in life; and our Shepherd King
who tenderly cares for vulnerable creatures through life’s troubles. There
have been many other promises that speak to us in very personal ways,
when we are in need of a reminder about whom it is that we seek to worship—
our Awesome God - our Beginning and our End, and our Ever-faithful Lord.

Ever-loving Father, you challenged King David’s descendants to be obedient
to the central place of God in their life, just as we your followers of today,
are also challenged to faithfulness in our personal commitment to the God
whom we worship and serve. May we always seek to love and serve our God. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Reign of Christ the King, Year B [Ordinary 34B] or [Proper 29B] 2012
Psalm 132: 1-12

There are many stories about King David. Some stories are flattering, and some
that question his morality and his behaviour; and despite the passage of many
centuries, David has not lost his aura as a “man after God’s own heart”. This claim
always makes me wonder what it takes to become a person “....after God’s heart”.
Was it David’s complete trust in God; his commitment and obedience to God; his
willingness for self-examination and then confession of his motives and actions;
or his loyalty to his friends and leaders? It is my guess that it was the whole package—
even though it was a mixture of good and ugly, that was pleasing to the God’s heart.



As the youngest among a family of impressive brothers, David may have been the
spoiled baby boy of the family, or he could have been the butt of boisterous and
rough treatment by his elder brothers. Whatever his home life was like, and taking
into account the usual glossing-over of the less-attractive elements of his character—
David was God’s choice for the beginning of a dynasty of life-changing importance
to all God’s people. For all his faults, David delighted in worshipping God and being
loyal to God’s ways, and I am greatly encouraged by those “redeeming” features
that were part of the whole package that was the person and being of King David.



This Psalm commemorates the arrival in Jerusalem of the Ark of the Covenant - that
“box” that carried so many of Israel’s sacred and defining relics - and which signified
to countless people the abiding presence of God as they had travelled through the
wilderness until they found their new home in the “Promised Land”. David dreamed
of building a “home” for God, but that was not God’s plan. How many times have we
all dreamed and planned great things for ourselves - and even for God - but which
have never been realised! May we offer all our dreams and plans for God’s blessing!

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Acknowledgements:
Unless stated otherwise, all Bible readings and extracts used in these weekly Prayers and Meditations are from
‘The New Revised Standard Version’ Copyright © 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

*The additional weekly numbering is from the Revised COCU Indexing Scheme
COCU = ('Consultation on Church Union'); as it offers an easy sequential numbering
for the Revised Common Lectionary for the Church Calendar.

If any part of these Prayers and/or Meditations is used in shared worship, please provide
the following acknowledgement:
© 2012 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year B. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: rnchristking[34]b_2012.pdf

© 2012 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year B