Sunday, April 16, 2017

Psalms 51 and 52 from my new book:

A NEW LOOK AT THE OLD PSALMS
Praying the Psalms: a modern interpretation

A New Look at the Old Psalms

____________________

I present here a new perspective on the psalms. I have rewritten them from a New 
Testament Christ-centered point of view. I did not try to capture the poetry of the 
psalms – I leave that to more gifted writers – but I attempted to capture their message
with a more modern interpretation.
God bless,
John
____________________


Psalm 51

(King David begs forgiveness for committing adultery with Bathsheba and killing her husband. Since we are all sinners, let his prayer become our prayer as well.)

F
ather, I come before you a sinful man. It is with heartfelt sorrow that I beg for your mercy and unfailing love. Be compassionate, Lord, and cleanse me of my sin and guilt. I am ashamed of what I have done because my sin was a personal affront to you, my God. You have every right to be upset with me. I am filled with guilt. It haunts me even in my dreams. I cannot remember a time when I did not sin. I know it is no excuse, but I can honestly say that I have been a sinner since I was conceived. Not sinning does not come to me easily. But search me, Lord, to see that I have a truly contrite heart. Show me what I must do to make things right again between us.

I beg your total forgiveness. Leave not a spot of sin on my soul. My heart is pierced with sorrow. I will have no peace until you forgive me. Purify me and restore my soul to its pristine state. Do not abandon me, Lord, for my soul is lost without you. Save me from destruction, if not for my own sake, then for the benefit of others, who will see how merciful and forgiving you are, and be drawn back to you. Then I will be able to praise you again.

Lord, I would make a ritual sacrifice in the Temple to restore our friendship, but what you desire from me is not animal sacrifice, but a humble, contrite heart. Do not deprive my people of your help because of my sin. Let them see that you pardon even great sins if the sinner’s heart is truly repentant. Let their sacrificial offerings be acceptable to you again, for they will be making them with humility and true contrition. Amen.


Psalm 52

W
ho will enjoy eternal life? Not those who commit crimes; bring disgrace to others; lie and verbally abuse people; cheat and connive; and prefer evil over good. God will destroy them. The righteous fear God. They will mock the criminal because he did not trust in God, but in his wealth. And that is the way he lived his life until the very end.

The virtuous will enjoy God’s favor on earth and, because of his unfailing mercy, eternal life in the world to come. May God be praised forever because of what he has accomplished and will do for those who are holy in his sight. Amen. 

____________________


Cover image: Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator)." Web. 25 Sept 2016.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spas_vsederzhitel_sinay.jpg
"Creative Commons License." Web. 18 May 2016.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

This book and other books I have written are posted for your reading pleasure at Booksie.

Scriptural quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, 
copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois
60189. All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2016 by John P. Gross. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this material must 
be done in its entirety with the copyright notice intact. This book is not for sale, but is 
offered to the public free of charge for the glory of God.

No comments:

Post a Comment