Good, how good

 
Psalm for Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL Year A

Psalm 133

A litany: a sung response alternating with spoken word (preferably with feeling)

 

 

 
Good, how good, so good, so pleasant
when the people of God come together as one

v 1
1 How good and pleasant it is
      when God’s people live together in unity!

Good, how good, so good, so pleasant
when the people of God come together as one

v 2
2 It is like precious oil poured on the head,
      running down on the beard,
running down on Aaron’s beard,
      down on the collar of his robe.

Good, how good, so good, so pleasant
when the people of God come together as one

v 3
3 It is as if the dew of Hermon
      were falling on Mount Zion.
For there the LORD bestows his blessing,
      even life forevermore.

Good, how good, so good, so pleasant
when the people of God come together as one

 

From the blog
Theme: Good news  [prayer sheet]
Quiet my heart
Change … like little children
 

Seek the Lord and His strength

 
Psalm for Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, RCL Year A

Psalm 105:1-6 (optional ending: 16-22)

A litany: a sung response alternating with spoken word (preferably with feeling)

 

 

 
Seek the Lord, keep on seeking
Seek His presence; seek His strength

v 1-2
1  Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
      make known among the nations what he has done.
2  Sing to him, sing praise to him;
      tell of all his wonderful acts.

Seek the Lord, keep on seeking
Seek His presence; seek His strength

v 3-4
3  Glory in his holy name;
      let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4  Look to the LORD and his strength;
      seek his face always.

Seek the Lord, keep on seeking
Seek His presence; seek His strength

v 5-6
5  Remember the wonders he has done,
      his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6  you his servants, the descendants of Abraham,
      his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.

Seek the Lord, keep on seeking
Seek His presence; seek His strength

 
OPTIONAL ENDING
v 16-22 (about Joseph in Egypt)
(Refrain)

 

From the blog
Guest post: Memories of the hurricane
All my days and forever
Interpreting the times
 

I call on you, my God

 
Psalm for Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, RCL Year A

Psalm 17:1-7, 15

A litany with a sung response alternating with spoken word (preferably with feeling).

 

 

 
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me
Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer
 

v 1-3
1  Hear me, LORD, my plea is just;
      listen to my cry.
Hear my prayer—
      it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2  Let my vindication come from you;
      may your eyes see what is right.
3  Though you probe my heart,
      though you examine me at night and test me,
you will find that I have planned no evil;
      my mouth has not transgressed.
 

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me
Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer

 
v 4-5
4  Though people tried to bribe me,
      I have kept myself from the ways of the violent
      through what your lips have commanded.
5  My steps have held to your paths;
      my feet have not stumbled.
 

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me
Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer
 

v 7, 15
7  Show me the wonders of your great love,
      you who save by your right hand
      those who take refuge in you from their foes.
15  As for me, I will be vindicated and will see your face;
      when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
 

I call on you, my God, for you will answer me
Turn your ear to me and hear my prayer
 

From the blog
On Writing Prayer-Poems
We bring our stories
In the school of prayer with Brother Lawrence
 

Flower where you are

Opening Prayer

“Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness….” Psalm 29:2

 
O God,
whose holiness is not limited to
      grand cathedrals or saintly persons,
      spectacular mountains or mountain-moving leaders;
O God,
whose holiness is often discovered in simple everyday places
      and simple everyday folk,
plant Your holiness in this place,
      in us now.
Grow us this hour,
      that we might flower,
      right where we are,
      with the beauty of Your holiness.
Through Jesus we pray.
Amen.

 
~ posted on My Redeemer Lives website.

Note: Next month’s theme is “Response”. Week by week I will be posting a litany based on the lectionary psalm and a sung response I’ve written specially for services in my church in Rotterdam in the month of August. The psalms are Psalm 17, 105, 133 and 124.
 
Get in touch if you’d like to use the litanies too. I can provide recordings and basic notation (melody line and chords).
 

Ever blooming

 

Kindness, peace, love —
may they never stop blooming
in you and from you.
Jude 1:2,  VOICE

 
 

Opening prayer

God of small seeds and mighty plants, you take our meager lives and with your love cause them to produce acts of loving kindness for you in this world. You hear our cries and find us when we are lost and wandering in fear. You bring us home with you so that we may be made whole, rejoicing in your goodness. Help us to joyfully serve you all our days, knowing that you are always watching over us. Prepare our hearts to receive your word and our spirits to respond in eagerness to serve you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN

 
~ written by Nancy Townley, posted on www.ministrymatters.com
 

From the blog
Theme: He heals the brokenhearted  [prayer sheet]
The Gift #12 : Recreator
Walk the walk
 

Bloom where you’re planted

“There are times to bloom where we are planted, and times for us to be transplanted so we can bloom even better elsewhere. Just follow the Lord where he leads.”

(Danielle Bernock, from an article on www.christianity.com)
 

Benediction

inspired by Colossians 2:6-7

Just like you receive Christ Jesus the Lord,
so go on living in him — in simple faith.
Grow out of him as a plant grows out of the soil it is planted in —
becoming more and more sure of your faith.
If you do this,
your lives will overflow with joy and thankfulness.
And the mercy of God,
the love of Jesus Christ,
and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit
will surround you and uphold you
wherever you go.
Go in God’s peace.

posted on re:worship

From the blog
Quiet near a little stream
Slow learners and bright ideas
Theme: Part of creation  [prayer sheet]
 

Blossom and flourish

Call to Worship

 
We’ve come to worship God,
who makes streams flow from rock,
who turns the parched earth into springs of water,
who sends the rain from heaven
and makes the wilderness blossom and flourish.
As the deer thirsts for flowing streams,
so we thirst for You, O God.
Come, let’s worship our life-giving God,
who pours out living water on all who thirst.
 

~ by Christine Longhurst, posted on re:worship

From the blog
Germinate and grow
Big strong tree
Wilderness encouragement
 

Asking One, ask us

A prayer of adoration and confession

inspired by Matthew 7:7-11, Luke 11:1-13

Seeking One,
you are the beginning and the end of our search.
Finding One,
you are the alpha and omega of all discovery.
Asking One,
you are the voice and the silence of our exploration.
Giving One,
you are the fullness and the emptiness of all yearning.
Persistent One,
you never abandon your search for us,
nor tire of our repetitive to-ings and fro-ings.
Receiving One,
you endlessly welcome us home,
and spread before us a feast
in the face of our constant requests for mere morsels of bread.

Search us, O God,
and find within us the secrets we hide.
Ask us, O God,
and receive from within us the pain we bear.
Keep knocking at the door of our lives
until we open our wills to your purpose,
our lives to your life, and our yearning to your hope.

When we forget to seek you and discover that we have lost our place:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

When we ask once and leave it at that:
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

When we draw back from knocking, lest we disturb you:
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Strengthen our courage; bolster our endurance;
spur us onward in your way in our world
through the power of the Holy Spirit
and the name of Christ.
Amen.

 
~ written by Anita Monro and posted on re:worship

From the blog
When hot and bothered
Good grief
In the school of prayer with the Celtic Saints
 

Ask for more

Benediction

(based on Ephesians 3:16-21, The Message)

I ask God to strengthen you by the power of the Spirit —
not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength —
that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in.

And I ask God that
with both feet planted firmly on love
you’ll be able to take in with all Christians
the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love.

Reach out and experience the breadth!
Test its length!
Plumb the depths!
Rise to the heights!
Live full lives — full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know —
far more than you could ever imagine or guess
or request in your wildest dreams!
Not by pushing us around
but by working within us,
through the power of God’s Spirit.

All glory to the God of Creation!
All glory to the Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ!
And all glory to the Spirit of God, at work among us and within us!

Go in the love of God!
Amen.

 
~ from re:worship

From the blog
A very present help in trouble
In the school of prayer with Terry Hinks
3 Prayers for wayfarers
 

Make us a chalice

Collage by Irene Bom

 

Prayer of Confession

(inspired by Matthew 25:31-46)

God of the people,
you have called us to walk humbly before you
and to share in the struggle with the least of these,
yet we have failed to live up to this call.
Today, we come before you
asking your Spirit to empower us
to be agents of transformation for the world.
Make us a chalice from which all the oppressed
can find the living waters of God,
who calls us to live a life of service, of humility,
and of reconciliation with you, with creation,
and with the world. Amen.
 
~ posted on Many Voices. http://www.manyvoices.org

From the blog
Hot-hearted in serving thee
Making, making, making
Theme: Come to the waters  [prayer sheet]