Psalms 105-108 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 105

(Psalms 105, 106 and 107 are songs of thanksgiving to God for his great mercy.)

L

et us thank the Lord and praise his name. Proclaim his works to all nations. Strum your instruments and sing a song to celebrate his wonderful deeds. He is holy and holy is his name. And we who love him rejoice. Seek your strength in the Lord at all times.

Remember the wonderful things he has done, the truth he has revealed to his people. Remember the oath he gave to Abraham and his descendants that he would save us from our enemies and keep his holy covenant for a thousand generations to come. He bequeathed to Israel the land of Canaan. The Jews were a small group, just passing through nation after nation. They formed a kingdom like no other, and he protected them. He defeated kings who tried to harm his prophets. He spread famine across the land of the unbelievers, depriving them of bread.

Remember how the Lord looked after the house of Jacob. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was sorely tested until the time came for the Lord to reveal his will through the dreams of Pharaoh. Joseph was released from prison and placed in charge of the king’s house and lands. He was given authority to advise his officials and even those much older than he. The Jews thrived in Egypt and grew stronger and more numerous than the Egyptians who began to hate them.

Remember how he used Moses and Aaron to gain the freedom of his people from Pharaoh. The Lord worked wondrous signs through them: he blotted out the sun, but Pharaoh would not relent. The Lord turned the waters into blood, killing the fish; caused frogs to infest the land and even the king’s private chambers; he besieged them with flies and gnats; rained down hail; dried up the ground; destroyed every tree and vineyard; and assailed them with locusts and caterpillars that ate all the grass and fruit. Then he killed the first-born of each family, including the Pharaoh’s son, and the king finally capitulated.

Remember how the Jews left Egypt carrying much silver and gold. Not one had suffered from the plagues. And Egypt was glad to be rid of them. The Lord protected them with cloud cover by day and a pillar of fire by night. He fed them with manna and split the rock to provide water for the thirsty, and the rivers flowed.

God kept the promise he made to Abraham, his servant. He set his people free, and they rejoiced in the Lord. He gave them the lands and property of the nations through which they passed. All they had to do was obey his laws. Alleluia!⁵⁵

Psalm 106

H

oly is our God. Let us thank him for his mercy that will never end. How wonderful are his works. Blessed are they who keep his commandments and do what is right. Remember us, Lord, for we seek to do your will and beg for your salvation. See how good we are, how glad we are to be your children, and how we praise you among the people.

Yet we sinned like our ancestors. We broke his laws and rejected righteousness. Our forefathers did not understand what the Lord had done for them in Egypt. Forgetting how merciful he had been to them, they rejected him when they ran up against the Red Sea. But he made a path for them through the water to show his great power and the reliability of his promises. When he drowned their pursuers, they finally trusted him and gave him praise.

However, their faith in his works did not last long. They soon failed to seek his advice and complained bitterly about how dissatisfied they were in the desert. Again, the Lord gave them what they wanted. They even angered Moses and Aaron, but the complainers were swallowed up in an earthquake and consumed by fire. Then they fashioned a calf and worshiped it. Imagine our glorious Lord turned into a grass-eating animal! Again, they forgot all the good things the Lord had done for them.

God would have destroyed them if Moses had not intervened for them. But then they rejected the Promised Land and doubted him again. They sat and complained in their tents and refused to listen to the Lord. So he punished them by denying their entry into Canaan and condemning them to live in the desert as nomads. They even made matters worse by dedicating themselves to the false god Baal and eating sacrifices to the dead! Then the Lord punished them more severely with plagues and death. Finally, Phinehas took matters into his own hands and made peace with the Lord who ceased destroying his people. Since that time, Phinehas has been regarded as a righteous man.

Unfortunately, they angered the Lord again at Meribah with all their bellyaching about his dragging them out of Egypt to let them die of thirst in the desert. Moses made matters worse by not following the Lord’s instructions. Then they failed to destroy the pagans; imitated them; worshiped their false gods; and sacrificed their innocent children to demons, polluting and defiling the land. By this time, the Lord had had enough of these ungrateful people and he abandoned them. He allowed them to be conquered and enslaved by the nations who hated them. Despite all the times the Lord had saved them, they continued to rebel against him, and he continued to punish them.

Seeing them in such a sad state and remembering the covenant he had made with them, he took pity on them and relented. He even stirred their captors to be more compassionate to them.

And they cried, “Save us, God. Bring us back together as one nation, so we may praise you and give thanks to you with one voice. Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, forever and ever.” And they all shouted, “Amen! Amen!” Alleluia!⁵⁶

Psalm 107

L

et us give thanks to the Lord for he is kind and compassionate, and his mercy is unending. Let those he saved from their enemies give testimony. He gathered his people together and led them into the desert where they grew weak from hunger and thirst. They begged the Lord for help, and he guided them to the Promised Land.

Let the people thank him for his great mercy and the wonders he performed for them.

Some languished in jail in the dark, close to death, subjected to extreme poverty and slavery. They had rebelled against him, and he let them suffer at the hands of their captors. With no one to help them, they called upon the Lord in their suffering, and he rescued them. His light shone in the darkness, and he restored them to life. He broke the chains that bound them. He demolished the bronze gates and iron bars that held them prisoner. Jesus would fulfill these words himself when he destroyed death by dying and brought light to those in darkness by rising from the dead.

Let the people thank him for his great mercy and the wonders he performed for them.

There were others who were on the verge of starving to death because they were too sick to eat. Thus humbled by their sins, they begged God to save them, and he rescued them from their afflictions by sending his word to heal them. Jesus Christ, the Word, would fulfill these words when he became man to heal us of the fear of death and the sickness of sin.

Let the people thank him for his great mercy and the wonders he performed for them.

Sailors on ships can attest to the wonders the Lord works at sea. Suddenly, stormy winds can stir the water causing waves to rise several feet into the air and come crashing down with great ferocity. Such waves horrify the crews who fear capsizing and drowning. They stagger like drunken men and are filled with panic. Yet they know that the Lord will hear their cry and rescue them from danger. In an instant, he can command the storm winds to become a breeze and the waves to cease their roiling. He will make sure they arrive at their destination safely. Let the Church exalt the Lord and praise him among the leaders of the world.

Let the people thank him for his great mercy and the wonders he performed for them.

What miracles the Lord can perform! He dries up rivers and fills fields of grain with salt water because of the sins of those who live there. He can also make deserts rivers and bring water to the fields where the hungry can make a home. They gather much fruit and harvest abundant crops. Their families grow, and their herds multiply because he blesses them.

However, should they come to reject God, they will be brought low and suffer at the hands of the enemy who despises them. They will find themselves trapped. Yet he lifts the poor out of poverty, and their families grow and multiply like sheep. The godly will rejoice at the poor man’s success. The wicked will be dumbfounded. Let the wise remember these things and learn to make the most of what they have learned about the Lord’s mercy. Alleluia!⁵⁷

Psalm 108

(A vision of Jesus in heaven praising the Father on behalf of his Church after his Ascension.)

" F

ather, you have lifted me up and placed me at your right hand. My Church is anxious to sing your praises. Musicians are at the ready. All nations will exalt your name, Father, because of the mercy you have shown them. There is no limit to the love and faithfulness you displayed in delivering your loved ones on earth.

You have given me rulership over all nations on earth, but there are still souls to be saved. Will you continue to fight with us, Father? We cannot win the war alone. But in you we have a mighty ally. No enemy can stand against us if you are with us.”⁵⁸

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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/

⁵⁵The Orthodox Study Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008), 751.

⁵⁶Ibid.

⁵⁷Ibid.
⁵⁸Ibid., p. 755

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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 

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