Psalms 31 and 32 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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God of Wrath vs God of Love

The Jewish people were captured, enslaved by the Egyptians, and felt abandoned by God. Yet God revealed himself to Moses in the flaming bush as the great “I AM” and commanded Moses to arrange for the deliverance of his people.

Nevertheless, despite all that God had done for them to gain their freedom, the Israelites bitterly complained, disobeyed him, and even worshiped a golden calf. No wonder God himself called them a “stiff-necked people!”

So how was God to bring his people to an understanding of how much he loved them? My thesis is that God had to first get their attention (Moses before Pharaoh); demonstrate that he was the all-powerful God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (plagues of Egypt); and then lead them to the “promised land” (Exodus).

As we study the Old Testament, we see that God had to lay down strict rules (laws) for maintaining purity, for proper conduct, and for worship (Ark of the Covenant). The penalty for violating these rules was often death.

Now, we may ask ourselves, “Why didn’t God just punish them and let them live?” I don’t presume to know the mind of God, but believe that the people were so stubborn and self-centered, that only the harshest punishment (death) would get their attention and alter their behavior.  Remember, God had made a covenant with his people, a promise to make them more numerous than the stars in the sky. God began to prepare his people for their eventual salvation (the Bible is the record of salvation history) by establishing some ground rules (laws and punishment for violations).  Eventually that promise would be fulfilled through the Father’s greatest act of love, the death and resurrection of his son, Jesus.

So God was very strict in the Old Testament. For example, he killed anyone who touched the Ark of the Covenant without his permission and he had people stoned for adultery. God could have just told them, as Jesus did, to go and sin no more, but would that have been enough to correct their behavior? Probably not, given how persistently his chosen people disobeyed him.

God would eventually work his will and soften his approach. He would show how much he loved his people through the psalms and his prophets. In the fullness of time, the people would see God’s love in full bloom on earth when Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead.

But didn’t God have his own son killed? What kind of loving father would do that? Well, if God is the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), he actually killed himself! Why would God kill himself? He did it out of love. Of course, God the spirit couldn’t die, but his son in the flesh could and that ultimate sacrifice by the Son of God and the Son of Man was God’s most powerful demonstration of his love for the human race: he would endure the suffering and death of his own son to save us from our own spiritual death — a soul forever separated from his Creator/Mother/Father. God would miss us terribly. Just as the father watched every day for the return of his prodigal son, God the Father is anxiously waiting for the return of each and every soul, now made possible by the loving sacrifice that he and Jesus and the Holy Spirit made on Calvary. One day God will place a ring on our finger, clothe us in the finest robe, and welcome us to the supper of the Lamb.

In summation, God had to work his plan of salvation through the law and revelation of the prophets in the Old Testament. That plan reached its fulfillment in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus, an act of love that reopened the gates of heaven, reconciled us to the Father, and overcame our fear of death with the promise of eternal life. God is patient, God is kind, and above all, God is love. Amen.

Psalm 31

Lord, hear my prayer and rescue me from my enemies. Only you can help me now. I trust in you because you are ever faithful in responding to those who follow your decrees. My life is in your hands. Dispose of me as you wish.

Yet now I see that my crisis is over. You have saved me. Once I was blinded by fear; overcome with grief, sadness, and misery. I was hated by enemies, despised by neighbors, and shunned by friends. But now you have blessed me because I honor you. I praise you, Lord, and I encourage all the faithful to obey you, for you protect all those who do your will. Let the arrogant beware – they may find themselves without resource! Amen.

  

Psalm 32

Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven. My sins weighed heavily upon me. Yet once I confessed my sins, my guilt disappeared. What joy I felt. God-fearing souls should confess their sins before it is too late, and God judges them unworthy. As for me, I rejoice that God has delivered me from evil. Now that I am clean, the Lord will guide me along straight paths. He will teach me his ways and watch over me. The wicked will be harshly disciplined; the righteous will be blessed. So let us with pure hearts rejoice in our blessings. Amen.

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Cover image: Christ the Saviour (Pantokrator)." Web. 25 Sept 2016.
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"Creative Commons License." Web. 18 May 2016.
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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.