02A*
A Call to Worship
Advent 2A 2016
Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19

Trustworthy God, we come together to worship you in faith and in trust.
Hallowed be the Name of our Holy God and King, the Father of us all!

Faithful God, we come together before you in repentance and expectation.
Forgive us all of our sin, as we forgive those people who sin against us.

Holy God, lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil! And may
God’s Kingdom come! May God’s will be done on earth - as it is in heaven!
Ever-Relevant God, we come together to praise and thank you for your
many blessings in the past; and we look in anticipation of future blessings. Amen!



Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19
A psalm of Solomon.

1 Give your love of justice to the king, O God, and righteousness to the king’s son.
2 Help him judge your people in the right way; let the poor always be treated fairly.
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be fruitful.
4 Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy,
and to crush their oppressors.

5 May they fear you as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon remains in the sky. Yes, forever!
6 May the king’s rule be refreshing like spring rain on freshly cut grass,
like the showers that water the earth.
7 May all the godly flourish during his reign.
May there be abundant prosperity until the moon is no more.

18 Praise the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things.
19 Praise his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and amen!


Prayers of Trust and Petition
Advent 2A 2016
Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19

Trustworthy God, we come together to worship you in faith, hope and trust, because
you are the God of all times and situations; of all experiences and expectations. We
gather together to support each other as we give thanks, and pray for your world, for
your people in the many nations that inhabit our planet; for the natural environment in
which we have been placed; and for the rule of justice and equity amongst all nations
and peoples. Hallowed be the Name of our Holy God and King, the Father of us all who
has shown such compassionate love and care for erring humanity; and today we pray
for the coming of God’s Shalom amongst the nation’s leaders and their people, so that
peace, justice and hope may be every person’s dream, right, privilege and expectation.

Faithful God, in this season of Advent, we come together before you in repentance and
expectation. In humble penitence, we ask that you forgive us of our sin, and that we
will forgive those people who have sinned against us. In trusting expectation borne out
of many experiences of God’s merciful forgiveness, today we ask for a new beginning
in our faith journey, and pray that we may better love and serve you all our days in life.
Holy God, we pray that we may not be led into temptation; and to be delivered from evil.

Ever-Relevant God, we come together to praise and thank you for your many blessings
in the past; and we look in anticipation of future blessings received through God’s gracious
generosity. Today we gather to pray for the coming of God’s Kingdom and the fulfilment of
God’s will to be done here on this earth; as we believe it is done by all God’s saints in glory.
We also pray that the whole earth will be filled with God’s glory, as people begin to recognise
and honour the Creating God of the universe, and may they come to know the wisdom and
majesty of our Glorious God whose reign is one of peace, compassion and wholeness of life. Amen!


A Personal Meditation
Advent 2A 2016
Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19

The psalm closes with the very inclusive prayer: “…Let the whole earth be filled
with his glory. Amen and Amen!”,
whilst the first verses pray for prosperity from the
mountains and fruitfulness from the hills. Not included in the selected verses is a
prayer for people who live on the plains and deserts. However, the psalm’s overall
thrust is a prayer for justice and fairness in the treatment by their leader of deprived
and destitute people, and all who rule over people living in all conditions of life; and
of their need for shelter and housing. The needs of those people who were the
victims of unjust and cruel leadership are specifically mentioned in this psalm and
this included the exiles, slaves and the poor people who try to scratch out a living
from poor quality soil and environment. Within this psalm is the seemingly endless
tension between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’; and the way leadership of the day
handled that tension. When will we ever learn to follow on the path of God’s Shalom?

Creative pause: When will we ever learn to follow in God’s Shalom?


The opening verses of Psalm 72 are thus, minus the title of the person for whom you
would pray for in your own current situation: “Give your love of justice to the …,
O God, and righteousness to the …. Help him
[her] judge your people in the right
way; let the poor always be treated fairly. ……… Help him
[her] to defend the poor,
to rescue the children of the needy ….”
Whose name or title would you insert in the
gaps; and on what circumstances would your prayer be based? At times it seems that
the crushing weight of despair over one’s nation’s politics becomes almost too heavy
to bear! Oh, for the faith and hope of Habakkuk: “… Even though the fig trees have no
blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and
the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle
barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign LORD is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to
tread upon the heights.”
1 Today, my prayer is that my faith and hope in God increases!

Creative pause: O God, increase my faith, trust and hope in you!


In this Season of Advent, when we reflect on what it means to re-orient ourselves in
our daily living; and to remind ourselves again, that we live in the ‘in-between’ time of
Jesus’ coming amongst us as Immanuel – God with us – and the final victory of God
over all evil; and the fullness of the arrival of God’s Kingdom. Advent is also a time of
repentance when we look back at God’s long involvement with humanity; and yet it is
also a time of preparation and expectation, as we are again reminded of God’s many
promises that are yet to be experienced by all God’s people. So the psalmist prays for
the future of Israel, but also remembered their God-blessed past: “...Praise the LORD
God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things. Praise his glorious
name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory…”
Together and individually,
may we prepare, reflect and re-orient ourselves to live in hope and in praise of God.

Creative pause: Give thanks for the past and look in anticipation to the future.


1 Habakkuk: 17-19 (NLT)


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 A. Used with permission.

jstott@netspace.net.au
www.thetimelesspsalms.net

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