41C*
A Call to Worship
Pentecost 2C [Ordinary 9C] or [Proper 4C] 2013
Psalm 96

We come in reverent awe before the Lord our God - for great is the Lord!
We come, to join with all creation in singing new songs to the Lord our God.

We come in worship and praise - for the Lord God is worthy of our praise!
We come, to share together the news of our Glorious Lord’s saving deeds.

We come with songs and prayers – to give well-deserved glory to the Lord!
We come, to bring our offerings of worship and praise to the Lord our God—
whose holy splendour, honour and majesty shines forth from God’s presence. Amen.

Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Pentecost 2C [Ordinary 9C] or [Proper 4C] 2013
Psalm 96

We come in response to the Psalmist’s call, to worship and honour
our Lord and God! The Psalm’s author calls all the people of the earth
to create a new song of praise to our God. We acknowledge that we do
indeed need a new song of praise to our God, because the gift of today,
with all its beauty and possibilities, is another reason to praise our God.
We come together to share and celebrate the gift of another day to spend
in fellowship with God and each other. The good news of today is that
our God continues to act amongst the nations with equal care and mercy,
and with God’s equal acceptance and grace. This means that God’s
compassion and care is of equal benefit to any people who are lost and
bewildered, as to people who have never ever lost sight of God’s glories.
Invite all the peoples of the earth, to sing praises to the Lord our God!

We come to be together, as God’s people in this time and place, to tell
all that we know about God’s splendour and beauty. We come, bringing
our offerings in response to God’s goodness throughout all time and
through all creation. These offerings are our songs of praise; our gifts
symbolising our commitments to our God, and God’s world community;
our awed reverence; and our prayers for God’s world and its peoples,
and especially for those people who are suffering, lonely or vulnerable.
Invite all the peoples of the earth, to bring prayers to the Lord our God!

We come to share with each other, our own recognition and our personal
understanding of our Glorious God, whose generosity and mercy is utterly
beyond any of our personal experiences; whose glory and majesty if beyond
our imagination, and such is the radiance that shines from God’s own Being
that it totally defies any description. The absolute majesty of the Lord our
God compels and invites us to share our experiences of God’s gracious mercy
and goodness to us, and so we come in humility and reverence, to worship our
God, along with all the faithful people throughout the centuries, all of whom
have also been lost for words, before the wonders and mysteries of our God.
We come, all of the earth’s people, to offer worship to the Lord our God! Amen.

A Personal Meditation
Pentecost 2C [Ordinary 9C] or [Proper 4C] 2013
Psalm 96

The Psalmist instructs us to sing a new song to the Lord. Was it because
our earlier songs were either inadequate; were not fervent enough; or that
they were lacking in imagination or conviction? Perhaps the Psalmist’s own
people had been half-hearted in their songs of praise, and he expected more
from them! What then, do I/we do when people are disinterested in offering
God their genuine acts of praise? What do I/we do when people do not want
to listen our “good news” stories about God’s goodness and mercy to me/you?
Do I/we keep singing new songs of praise to God, regardless of an audience?

Creative pause: Do I keep on singing God’s praises, even if people will not listen?


The Psalmist instructed all creation to sing a new song to the Lord. Was it
because he was now addressing all creation, which obviously recognises
more clearly than we do, its dependency on God and of God’s renewing
powers? The various Psalmists have been very poetic in their descriptions
of the way the heavens, the seas, the trees and crops respond in adoration
to their Creating God, and I often wonder whether the created world, within the
substances designated as of “animal, vegetable and/or mineral”, instinctively
recognise and know its Maker and Sustainer - and in their own way - respond?

Creative pause: Does the world of nature instinctively respond to its Maker?


The Psalmist instructs us to sing a new song to the Lord. Maybe he did that
because he believed each new day deserved a new song of thankfulness to
God; and because each day, we have a brand new and living experience of
God’s goodness? The Psalmist pleaded with all people - who were; who are;
and who will be exposed to these Psalms – to recognise the Lord their God in
all of God’s majesty and glory; and through that recognition, to offer their praise
and worship in ways that are relevant, reverent, and a sincere response to God.
Do I/we recognise all the glory that is our God, and worship God accordingly?

Creative pause: Does my “new song” celebrate each new day’s experience of God?


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: pentecost2[9]c_2013.pdf