17C*
A Call to Worship
Transfiguration of Jesus Year C
Psalm 99

King of all creation, holy and pure is your reign forever and ever!
We come in reverent awe before the glory of our Everlasting God.

Lord of all creation, justice and mercy are the signs of your reign!
We come to celebrate the compassion and care of our Listening God.

King of all creation, righteousness and majesty are the symbols of
your reign, and we revere and honour your holy name forever!
We come to be still in God’s presence. In worship and praise, we
offer to our Glorious God, the fruits of our lives in God’s service. Amen.

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Prayers of Praise and Exaltation
Transfiguration of Jesus Year C
Psalm 99

We gather in reverent awe to worship and exalt our praiseworthy
God! We come as flawed human beings gathered together within
a community of faith, to praise and glorify our Eternal God and King!
All the heavenly hosts and the saints in light sing the Eternal One’s
praises, and we humbly offer our own feeble responses to the glory
and majesty of our Lord and God - who reigns forever in holiness.
The Lord is King! Let the nations and all creation praise our God!

King and Creator of all things, holy and just is your reign forever!
Mighty Deliverer of your troubled people, who listens and answers
the prayers of your people, we come in worship and exaltation of
the God who is our Beginning and our End, our Alpha and Omega!
In times past, God’s faithful people sought guidance and blessings
on their God-given responsibilities, and they celebrated and rejoiced
in God’s enabling grace and mercy. We, too, celebrate all that our
loving God has blessed us with, and how we have been guided on
our journey of faith. The Lord is indeed King and Ruler of all things!
The Lord is King! Let the nations and all creation celebrate our God!

We gather to rejoice in God, the Holy One’s revelations to us of the
way our God rules all creation with justice, and in the peace that is
God’s our royal signature. We praise our God for the physical signs
we see of the reality of God’s spiritual realm, as we learn about the
beauty of God’s Being by the created world that surrounds us all.
We gather in this holy space that is our spiritual home here on earth—
and we give thanks for the privilege of being here together in worship.
The Lord is King! Let the nations and all creation rejoice in our God! Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Transfiguration of Jesus Year C
Psalm 99

The holiness of our God and King is a concept that defies explanation
or understanding, and I often grope for examples to help me even catch
a glimpse of that concept. There are many wonderful translations of the
Psalms which I use as reference books, and my most recent purchase
is entitled “The Voice of the Psalms”, part of “The Voice” collection.
Verse 5 states: “... Lift up the Eternal One our God in your hearts; bow
down to the earth where He rests His feet. He is holy, perfect and exalted
in His presence..”¹ To be both lifted up in our hearts and bowed down
before the Holy One, sounds rather like some degree physical torture—
but if we lift our hearts to God, what else can we do but bow before God’s
holiness! “God’s feet resting on the earth..”.[paraphrased] sounds like
relaxing in a comfortable chair with one’s feet up at the end of a hard
day’s work – but perhaps the real image is the planting of God’s feet in
ownership, like an explorer raising a flag to claim a newly discovered land.



There are many images on the internet of the Ark of the Covenant
with the two cherubim’s wings forming an archway over the “Mercy
Seat”. I do not know how accurate these images are but they certainly
are impressive in their rendition! The imagery of God “settled between
the winged guardians”² from Psalm 99 is a glorious and helpful one!
The word “settled” has various interpretations that enrich this imagery.
The dictionaries list: “completed”; “established”; “resolved and finalised”;
“put into order” and “in residence”. It was the custom for the religious
leaders in the Temple or Synagogue to be seated when they were about
to start their lessons, as opposed to teachers these days standing out
the front of a class or in their lecture theatres. For me, the imagery of
God settled/seated in the Holy of Holies is a helpful one because is tells
me that God has something to teach me and you, and that God has the
time to take over you and me properly learning all our lessons from God.



The holy “mountains” of Zion that surrounded Jerusalem were really
only hills, but by naming them “mountains” that brought them physically
nearer to God’s presence in the upper realms of creation; as it was
understood in Biblical times. The holy atmosphere of Jerusalem was a
tangible and physical experience; it was something holy that was almost
touchable! I’ve never been to Jerusalem, but there are many holy places
where God’s presence is real and touchable, and places that inspire
worship of God. I am referring now to the places of worship where people
intentionally gather to praise and worship God. In Africa, I visited a place
of worship that had previously been a cow shed, but it had been cleaned
and painted blue! This was the best those poverty-stricken people could
obtain, and they had done their best to make it beautiful for God. Another
experience was of a church in the Pacific Islands where the ladies had
beautified all the church “fittings” with pink crochet trimming. All these
people were glorifying God by using the best of their skills and resources.

1 & 2 A translation of Psalm 99 From “The Voice of the Psalms”
© 2009 by Ecclesia Bible Society USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved

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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.

*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:
© 2013 Joan Stott – ‘The Timeless Psalms’ RCL Psalms Year C. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: transfigurationc_2013.pdf

© 2013 Joan Stott - " The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year C