Psalms 65 and 66 from my new book:

A NEW LOOK AT THE OLD PSALMS

Praying the Psalms: a modern interpretation

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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

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Psalm 65

(A vision of the Church as a people in exile looking forward to one day entering into the peace of heaven.)

O

God, one day we will sing a hymn of praise to you in heaven. On that day we will have fulfilled all the promises we made to you in return for helping us to survive and thrive. But now, Lord, hear our prayer, for we are in exile, sojourners in a foreign and bewildered land. We are overwhelmed by the wicked. Yet we will all appear before your judgment seat in the end. We are all sinners and trust that you will have mercy on us at the gates of Paradise. Truly blessed are they who dwell in your house where you will satisfy all their needs, and there will be no more sickness, suffering or death.

Yet while we are here on earth, Lord, your Church will continue to hope in you, for you have always taken care of us. With your great power, you created the mountains, stirred the seas, and stunned the nations with your wonders. Morning and night you watched over us and provided for our needs. You watered the land and gave us abundant harvests. Animals provided sustenance. Even the deserts produced fruits. All nature rejoices because of your generosity, but we know that this is just a taste of the glory we will experience in heaven. Amen.²⁴

Psalm 66

(A prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection.)

L

et everyone lift his voice to Jesus, our risen Lord. Bless his name and make his praise glorious. Evil cowers before his mighty deeds and great power. Look at what the Lord has accomplished. Just as God separated the sea to save his people and bring them into the land of milk and honey, he raised Jesus from the tomb to save us from death and bring us to eternal life in Paradise. And Jesus will rule over his Church of both Jews and Gentiles for eternity, ever ready to come to its defense.

Let us thank God and give him praise for his protection and our salvation. Yet the entrance to heaven is a narrow gate. We will be tested and challenged, but eventually, if we persevere, we will arrive at a place of peace and rest. Thank you, Jesus, for seeing us through the hard times. The sacrifices we make are a small price to pay to receive our heavenly reward.

Come all who seek salvation, and I will tell of how the Lord saved my soul. I called upon him in distress, and he answered me. Bless you, O God, for showering me with your tender mercy. Amen.²⁵

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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/

²⁴The Orthodox Study Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 723.

²⁵Ibid.

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.