31C*
A Call to Worship
Easter Day, Year C 2016
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is the inner strength of all who offer their worship.
We give thanks as we worship God, because God gives us all the strength we need.

Give thanks to the Lord, for the Lord is the song of all who offer their praises to God.
We give thanks as we praise our God, because God is the very reason why we sing.

Give thanks to the Lord, for songs of joy and celebration are sung in the homes and
communities of those who worship the Lord God, whose faithful love endures forever.
We give thanks and celebrate, as together we worship God on this special day, and
because of today, we know for certain that God’s “...faithful love endures forever...” Amen.



Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let all Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

14 The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.
15 Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly.
The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!
16 The strong right arm of the LORD is raised in triumph.
The strong right arm of the LORD has done glorious things!

17 I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the LORD has done.
18 The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not let me die.

19 Open for me the gates where the righteous enter, and I will go in and thank the LORD.
20 These gates lead to the presence of the LORD, and the godly enter there.
21 I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!
22 The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.
23 This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.
24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.


Prayers of Praise and Thankfulness
Easter Day, Year C 2016
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

God of grace and God of mercy, with joy-filled hearts, minds and emotions we
gather together to give special thanks to the Lord, our Liberating God, who has
blessed us in so many ways, and especially by giving us the inner strength we
have needed in times of struggle, hardship or pain. We give God our thanks for
this opportunity to worship God amongst the members of our faith community—
as they provide us with encouragement and support as they pray for and with us;
and as they share in the good news that God is always our strength; and as we
commit ourselves to God and to the worship of God, we share in God’s victory.

God of hope and God of our tomorrows, we gather today as your people to sing
your praises and to offer our prayers of thankfulness for your faithful love which
reaches beyond time and space, and is utterly beyond our understanding; or any
knowledge and wisdom that we may have developed in our lifetime. God of life
and love, you are the very reason that we sing; you are the inspiration for our
songs; and indeed, you are the very song of life itself! We join with the psalmist
as we celebrate and worship you, because “...The LORD is my song...” always.

God of joy and God of peace, we give thanks to the Lord, when songs of joy and
celebration are sung in the homes and communities of those who worship the Lord
their God, because God’s faithful love endures forever. Today we sing our prayers
of thankfulness to God’s praise in the certain hope that: “...O love of God, our shield
and stay through all the perils of our way; eternal love, in you we rest for ever safe,
forever blest.”
1 With that reassuring hope and knowledge, we praise and bless our God. Amen.


A Personal Meditation
Easter Day, Year C 2016
Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24

I agree entirely with the psalmist as he sang: “...the LORD is my strength…”, but what
did he mean when he sang: “...the LORD is my song…?” Various dictionaries define
‘song’ as being structured words or a poem set to music, with the intention that those
words would take on added meaning when sung rather than spoken. However, we
are not the only ones in God’s creation to sing a ‘song’, as birds, whales and some
insects also ‘sing’ sequences of musical sounds that are intended to be an invitation
to a mate during ‘courting’; or a song as a warning to a potential predator. Yet, I don’t
think that calling God a ‘song’ meant that! Half of the readily available translations
replace ‘song’ in the psalms with ‘might’, ‘power’ or ‘defence’; whilst the other half use
‘song’, or something like “God is the reason why I sing” or “God is saving my health”.
Music is an essential part of my life and being, as it expresses itself to me in ways that
inspire feelings in ways that no other means of expression can satisfy. Therefore, as
a statement of faith and trust, I too can sing: “...The LORD is my strength and my song...!”

Creative pause: Is the Lord your ‘song’ in addition to also being your ‘strength’?


“...The LORD is my strength and my song; he has given me victory. Songs of joy and
victory are sung in the camp of the godly. The strong right arm of the LORD has done
glorious things..!”
The psalmist instructed the ‘godly’ to sing together in their camps the
songs of victory. Yet in Psalm 137, the people who had not experienced ‘victory’, but
‘exile’ were taunted by their captors to: “…Sing us one of those songs of Jerusalem…!”
a ‘joyful hymn’, but in their grief they responded thus: “…we sat and wept as we thought
of Jerusalem. We put away our harps, hanging them on the branches of poplar trees…”
2
Yet, there are many glorious songs and pieces of music that are ‘mournful’, ‘sorrowful’
and which speak of the ‘desolation of the soul’. Those emotions also are a part of God
being our ‘song’, as to listen or produce such music can bring comfort, peace and healing.

Creative pause: In victory or in defeat, God can and will always be our ‘song’!


Worship and music changed over the centuries from the early days of Moses through
to the building of the first Temple, when the provision of music in worship became the
province mainly of ‘professional’ priestly musicians. In the Old Testament book of Ezra
that was written about 540 BC almost as a sequel to the two books of Chronicles, and
after the Jews return from their exile in Babylon, Ezra recorded the details of the eventual
restoration of the ‘old’ Temple in Jerusalem; and the renewal of singing and songs for all
to sing and celebrate. “...When the builders completed the foundation of the LORD’s Temple,
the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites
descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the LORD, just as King David had
prescribed. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the LORD: ‘He is so good! His
faithful love for Israel endures forever!’ Then all the people gave a great shout, praising
the LORD because the foundation of the LORD’s Temple had been laid...
3 Psalm 118 picks
up this same theme together with all its enthusiasm: “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is
good! His faithful love endures forever. Let all Israel repeat: “His faithful love endures forever...”


Creative pause: Is worship of God the same for you when there is no music?


1 From “Together in Song” #139
“O Love of God, how strong and true”
Words by Horatius Bonar 1808-89
Words in the Public Domain

2 Psalm 137:1b-3 (NLT)

3 Ezra 3: 10-11 (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 C. Used with permission.

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

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