40C*
A Call to Worship
Trinity Sunday after Pentecost, Year C 2016
Psalm 8

Creating God, we come together to worship and praise you:
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth...”¹

God of infinite love, we come in awed wonder as we worship you:
Gracious God, “...Lord, it amazes me that you should care for me...”¹

Awesome God, the Alpha and Omega, and the “I AM” forever:
we bow in reverence before God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
“...When I consider all the works of your hand the moon and stars
which you have set in their place O Lord, our Lord, our majestic is
your name in all the earth.”¹ All praise to our Creating God forever! Amen.

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Psalm 8
For the choir director: A psalm of David,
to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

1 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
2 You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.

3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?

5Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
7 the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
9 O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

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Prayers of Praise
Trinity Sunday after Pentecost, Year C 2016
Psalm 8

Creating God, we come together to worship and praise you with our songs, our
prayers, our presence in worship in our sacred space, together with all that our life
and living has brought about within and upon us - the sum total of which is offered
in humble reverence to you this day. Just as the Spirit of God hovered over the
surface of the waters at the time of creation, may your Spirit hover over our worship
on this Trinity Sunday, as we now celebrate the presence with us of the Triune God.

God of infinite love and mystery, we come in awed wonder as we share together in
worship and to praise you this day. Just as the psalmist sang these words in wonder
and reverent awe, so we too join in that eternal chorus: “O LORD, our Lord, your
majestic name fills the earth. Your glory is higher than the heavens! ...What are mere
mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for
them...?” Holy God, being “thought about” and “cared for” by you is a mind-blowing
concept, and we can only in all humility accept that energising love God has for all
that God creates; as we acknowledge that we indeed are: “...Frail children of dust,
and feeble as frail, in you do we trust, nor find you to fail: your mercies how tender,
how firm to the end, our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend...”² Hallelujah!

Holy and Awesome God, the Alpha and Omega, and the great “I AM” forever: we bow
in reverence before God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit! Help us
always to remember that all of life is God’s own handiwork. We marvel and wonder
at the intricacies of our human bodies and the uniqueness of each person with their
varying skills, talents and abilities. We are amazed at the glories of God’s creativity
and at the balance there is in creation – all of which are symbols of God’s-Own-Self. Amen.

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A Personal Meditation
Trinity Sunday after Pentecost, Year C 2016
Psalm 8

“...You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength...” I wonder if the
psalmist had a small child or grandchild who had re-introduced him/her to all the
wonders, marvels and joys of God’s creation? Had his/her eyes been re-opened
to new truths that only the childlike can see or comprehend? For example, the
awe of a child who has not yet learned the difference between a weed and a flower
that is prized by florists, and who yet delights in all their beauty; the delight of a
child hosting a ‘tea party’ when the main course was mud pies, and the desert—
cone-shaped flowers filled with sand as pretend ice-cream. Maybe only a child will
thrill to the colours of butterflies and birds; or have you marvelled at the rhythm
only the child can hear as they dance around in circles; or when they discover the
variations in sounds made by banging a wooden spoon on different sized pots?
Have you recently re-experienced the awe and delight of a child who has not yet
learned the potential dangers of some animals, large or small, but who ‘fell in love
at first sight’ with a little fluffy ginger kitten or a small, wriggling black puppy whose
tongue seems to be able to reach any part of one’s face in its enthusiastic welcome?



“...You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength...” Have you ever
had the absolute joy of children joining in worship as they have played their own
‘instruments’ of shakers, bells, tin whistles, triangles or toy drums as they praised
God for the beauties of creation and the wonders of true fellowship in worship?
Have you seen the joy of a child holding a sea shell to their ear and hearing the
tides and swells of the far away ocean; or a child learning to count as they pulled
petals off dandelions; or tunelessly singing and swaying to their own “Ode to Joy”?
Have you known the thrill of a child singing “Twinkle, twinkle, little star how I wonder
what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky? Twinkle, twinkle,
little star how I wonder what you are?” when they are first shown the wonders of the
night sky, or tried to find the face of the ‘man in the moon’ or watched a falling star?



Perhaps you have never experienced or have even forgotten these many blessings,
but instead, maybe you are now celebrating and giving God thanks for the blessings
of re-discovering the glorious colours of creation following cataract surgery; or hearing
anew the sounds of happy children and birds singing because of a new hearing aid!
Whatever have been your experiences of celebrating God’s wonderful and amazing
creation, the psalmist sums it up with these immortal words: “O LORD, our Lord, your
majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens...” What can be
“higher than the heavens” except immeasurable space in this limitless universe, which
means that the holy glory of God is infinitely vast, and beyond anyone’s imagination.
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. When I consider all the
works of your hand the moon and stars which you have set in their place Lord, it amazes
me that you should care for me O Lord, our Lord, our majestic is your name in all the earth”¹



1 From “Sing unto the Lord” - Disc #1 in a 3 CD Set
“O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name”
Words based on Psalm 8
Used by Permission CCLI Licence No. 221735

2 From “Together in Song” #133
“O worship the King, all glorious above”
Words by Robert Grant
Words are in the Public Domain

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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

Download/view a pdf file of this document here: pentecost1c_2016.pdf