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The Timeless Psalmsby Joan Stott |
A Call to Worship
Epiphany 4, Year A, Psalm 15
Holy God, you invite us to come to worship you.In your Holy Presence, we discover unlimited love.
Holy God, you invite us to come to worship you.
In your Holy Presence, we discover forgiveness.
Holy God, you invite us to come to worship you.
In your Holy Presence, we discover empowerment,
joy and peace. Come, let us worship our Holy God. Amen.
If used in shared worship, please provide an acknowledgement as follows:
© 2011 Joan Stott – "The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A, used with permission.
Prayers of Petition
Epiphany 4, Year A, Psalm 15
Holy God, we long to come into your holy and sacred space,and yet we know we are unworthy of such a blessing or honour.
We long to be in close fellowship with our God, and to offer our
praise and thankfulness for all God’s generous mercies, and yet
we are weighed down by the guilt of our habits and sinfulness.
Even though we experience a sense of reverent awe as we come
near to God, deep within us we are uncomfortable about being in
God’s holy presence. We have a yearning to worship and celebrate
our God with an upright life. We long to live a life that shows that all of
our life is lived within the conscious knowledge of God’s holy presence—
whose presence is always within and around us to bless and heal us.
Forgiving God, we take comfort in the knowledge that you are a God
whose mercy is a great as your love and holiness, and we also take
comfort in knowing that as we seek to live a renewed life, we are warmly
welcomed into God’s presence. We also receive anew, the promise that
we will be given the grace and strength to stand firm in our convictions,
and that we will know and experience God’s Holy Presence as we worship,
as we witness, and as we serve in God’s world and amongst God’s people.
Hear these our prayers of petition, and of praise to God, the Holy One. Amen.
If used in shared worship, please provide an acknowledgement as follows:
© 2011 Joan Stott – "The Timeless Psalms" RCL Psalm Year A, used with permission.
A Personal Meditation
Epiphany 4, Year A, Psalm 15
Holy God, please forgive me, but I am confused by what appearsto be contradictions in your Holy Word! God’s Holy Laws tell me
that as a follower and believer in my God, I am called to love and
serve the One and only God with all of my being, my mind, my
strength, my will, my compassion and love, my intelligence, and
my experiences – every part of me that makes up my whole being.
But now I discover that your Holy Word says that only those who
are blameless may enter God’s presence and sacred spaces.
| Creative pause: | Forgive me, but I am confused! |
My Gracious God, I am puzzled by this dilemma! It seems that there
are things I cannot or should not do - eleven of them if I want to be
in God’s presence in the sacred spaces! If I receive a tick of approval
against each prohibited action, I might eventually discover that I
have the possibility of being considered ‘blameless’. But then, my own
pride would raise its ugly head, and I would still miss out on worship!
But I need to worship my God! I yearn to be in God’s holy presence,
to say ‘Thank you’, and to offer my gifts to God and to other people.
| Creative pause: | I am puzzled and challenged by all this! |
Maybe I have all this wrong! To be actually blameless or perfect in
God’s sight is totally beyond my human capacity, but thanks be to
God, it is not beyond God’s grace to so cleanse me, that the Holy
Spirit acts in and through my life and living! I need to learn and build
into my daily life the practice of loving God and my neighbour as myself—
then, through the inspiration and action of God’s grace, I will again be
able to come into the presence of God with joy, peace and celebration.
| Creative pause: | Amazing grace – how sweet the experience! |