Psalm 8 - A Psalm of Praise

An order of worship planned around Psalm 8, originally held at the Calvin Symposium on Worship.

Tags:: psalms, symposium 2005
Worship Service: posted on June 1, 2005

Worship Service

Theme of the Service

Gathering in Jesus' Name

Prelude:

Bwana Asifiwe (Praise the Lord), Cathy Moklebust
Midnight Stars Make Bright the Sky, Chi-fang Lang, arr. Hart Morris
Change Ring Prelude on Divinum Mysterium, Fred Gramann
Festa, Arnold Sherman

Words of Preparation

*Call to Worship: "O Worship the King" (PsH 428)
St. 1 - All
St. 2-3 - All
St. 4 - Women begin; Men join at "Your mercies, how tender . . ."
St. 5 - All

Text: Robert Grant, 1833, alt.; based on Psalm 104
Music: Lyons, W. Gardner's Sacred Melodies, 1815; attr. Haydn

*Declaration of Trust and God's Greeting:

Children of God, in whom are you trusting?
Our help is in the name of the Lord who made heaven and earth.
Grace, mercy and peace to you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen!

Praising the God of Creation

*A Reading of Psalm 8:1-3

LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
You who have set your glory in the heavens
so that your adversaries, obstinate and vindictive enemies, may be stilled,
you may now find that glory praised in the mouths of us babes and sucklings.
When I look at the night sky, the work of your finger,
when I look at the moon and the stars, held there by your hand,
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!

*Creation Sings: "Psalm 19: God's Glory Fills the Heavens" (SNC 88)
St. 1 - All
St. 2 - Men: "God's perfect law . . ."
Women: "Forever shall . . ."
All: "No gold . . ."
St. 3 - All

Text: Carl P. Daw, Jr. (b. 1944)
Music: Creation, Franz J. Haydn (1732-1809)
Text © 1989, Hope Publishing Company, Carol Stream, IL 6018. All rights reserved.

Reflecting on the Human Condition

A Reading of Psalm 8:3-4

When I look at the night sky, the work of your finger,
when I look at the moon and the stars, held there by your hand,
what are we mortal humans that you remember a man or a woman and pay them attention?

Call to Confession and Prayer of Confession

Assurance of Pardon: The Reading of Psalm 103:8-12

Response of Praise: "Te Ensalzaré, Señor/I Will Praise You, O Lord," Ps. 30, adapt. John L. Bell
All on refrain; cantor on verses

A Guide for Grateful Living from Psalm 8:5-9

You have made us humans almost like gods,
crowning humanity with glory, a lordliness,
making us rule over the work of your hands,
with everything put under our feet:
sheep and cows, wild animals of the fields,
birds of the heavens, fish in the waters
and whatever other creatures prowl the deep paths of the sea-
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!

Listening to God's Word

Prayer for Illumination

*Gospel Reading:
Mark 10:13-16: A Call to Listen as Children

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

*Epistle Reading:
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-10: The Dignity and Significance of Jesus' Humanity for Salvation

The Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.

Sermon: "Insignificant and Significant" (based on Psalm 8)

Responding with Praise

*Hymn of Response: "God of the Sparrow" (Presbyterian Hymnal [1990] #272)
St. 1 - All
St. 2 - lower voices on melody; higher voices on descant
St. 3 - Men
St. 4 - same as st. 2
St. 5 - Women
St. 6 - same as st. 2

*Affirmation of Faith:

My only comfort in life and in death is
that I am not my own,
but belong-
body and soul,
in life and in death-
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit
assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
-from Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1

Prayers of the People

Sung: "Many and Great," stanza 1 (SNC 83)

Text: Joseph R. Renville (1779-1846); tr. Philip Frazier (1892-1964)
Music: Lacquiparle, traditional Dakota

Spoken prayer

Sung: "Many and Great," stanza 2

*Acclamation of Praise:

LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!
You who have set your glory in the heavens
LORD, our Lord! How wonderful is your name in all the earth!

*Response: "Let All Things Now Living" (PsH 453)

Text: Katherine K. Davis, 1939
Music: Ash Grove, Welsh; desc. Katherine K. Davis
Text and descant © 1939, 1966, E.C. Schirmer Music Co.

*Benediction

Postlude: "Final" from Symphony No. 1, Louis Vierne

Music key: PsH, Psalter Hymnal; SNC, Sing! A New Creation