Sunday, June 4, 2017

Psalms 79 and 80 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 79

(A vision of the suffering Church.)

O
Lord, the enemy seeks to defile your Church and destroy it. They have corrupted your ministers and martyred many of your saints. Church members stay away because of our shame. The secular world scorns us and makes fun of us. How long, Father, will you allow this to happen to us? Will your resentment ever burn itself out? Instead, be angry with those who deny your existence and reject you. They are the ones who are working to ruin your Church.

Do not hold against us our past sins. Have mercy on us, for we have been humiliated. Pity us, Lord, for you are our savior. Let your intervention serve to add more glory to your reputation. Forgive our sins and make it known to all peoples that you are our God. Show them there is a limit to how much you will allow your servants to suffer. Free those in prison because of their religious beliefs. Show your great power, Lord, and defend your Church. Rebuke severely those who hate you. Protect your flock, and we will thank you publicly from age to age, here and in the world to come. Amen.34

Psalm 80

(A vision of the incarnation of Christ.)

Y
ou listened to us, Father, and sent your Son, Jesus, to shepherd your flock. Almighty God, you rose up and came down from heaven to save us. We saw your face in Jesus, and you converted us. You were our salvation. Before Jesus came, we were suffering greatly. The enemy scorned us and held us in contempt, but your Son rescued us. He planted his vineyard, the Church, and its roots now extend throughout the world.

But now you have left your vineyard unprotected, and the devil is sifting your followers like wheat in order to destroy your Church. Father, convert us again. Strengthen your people, the Church you established, and make it more perfect. Jesus, the Son of Man, came to empower your children against the evil one. But they have become weak and face destruction. Rebuke the devil, Lord, and support the righteous with your strong right arm. Then we will turn back to you, for you will have given us new life, and we will praise your name. O Lord, convert us again and save your people. Amen.35
____________________


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/

34The Orthodox Study Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 734.
35Ibid., p. 735

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