Psalms 77 and 78 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 77

I

lifted my voice in prayer to God and he heard me. I was in distress and spent many nights talking to him about my problems, but I found no comfort. Thinking about the Lord lifted my spirits, but I began complaining and became depressed. I spent the whole night worrying and did not say a word. I remembered the good old days when we were so close. I tried to get in touch with my feelings. Will the Lord reject me forever? Will he never show me his favor again? Will God show me his mercy again? Perhaps he just forgot. Or he may be just that angry with me. Then I had a revelation. The Lord drew my attention to his works in the past, and I became lost in contemplation.

Father, your way is the holy way. No one, no matter how great, can compare to you, for you are the God of wonders. You rescued the Israelites from the Egyptians. You sent Jesus to save us from the fear of death and give us eternal life. Who could forget how you separated the Red Sea so your chosen people could escape Pharaoh? The waters trembled, lightning lit up the sky, thunder rumbled, and the earth shook. You led your people through the sea, yet no one saw your footsteps. Like a good shepherd, you protected your sheep from the wolves. Later, you sent another shepherd, Jesus, who sacrificed his life to save his sheep. Thank you, Father, for loving us so much. Thank you, Jesus, for saving us. Amen.

 Psalm 78

(Christ gives instructions to his Church regarding its history and the lessons it teaches.)

" L

isten, my brothers and sisters. I want to talk to you about your past that has been handed down to you from generation to generation. I am speaking about the wondrous deeds of the Father. He led his people out of bondage and gave them his laws. He told them to teach their children their history so they would have hope in him and follow his commandments. What you have learned in the past applies to you, my Church, today: do not become rebellious, bitter, and unfaithful.

The Israelites forgot what the Father had done for them: he parted the sea and led them to safety; he gave them water from a rock to drink; he fed them with manna and birds. They still continued to disobey him, and he punished them for their ingratitude, disbelief, and loss of hope in his saving grace. In his anger, he killed many of them, but that did not stop them from sinning. They still refused to believe in him.

Finally, after seeing so much death, the survivors turned back to God and remembered that he was their redeemer and friend. Oh, they said nice things about God, but that was just to win his favor. They were still unfaithful and disobedient. God could have punished them again, but he had mercy on them. He knew they were weak and only here for a short time.

His people forgot about what he had done for them in Egypt: he sent plagues; he killed Egypt’s firstborn, the promise of Egypt’s future, to get Pharaoh to set his people free; he guided them through the sea that drowned their enemy and brought them to the Promised Land; and he gave them the nations of others for their home. And still they rebelled and broke his commandments, just like their ancestors. They went so far as to worship false gods.

So God had to punish them again: he abandoned his Ark, and the enemy captured it; his people became slaves; young men were slaughtered, depriving young women of potential marriage partners; priests were killed, leaving their wives speechless with grief. The Lord did not hold back in his anger and condemned them to eternal disgrace. To build a new kingdom, he rejected Joseph’s and Ephraim’s tribes and chose the people of Judah. He built his Temple on his beloved Mt. Zion. He selected David, a shepherd, to lead his people and anointed him king of Israel. With a pure heart, he ruled his kingdom with integrity and skill.”³³

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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/

³³The Orthodox Study Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 732.

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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.