Psalms 147-150 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 147

H

ow good it is to sing praises to our God, for he has built his Church through his Son, Jesus, who healed the wounded and created the heavens and the earth with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Who is as strong or wise as our Lord? He lifts up the lowly and humbles the wicked.

Let us sing a song of thanks to the Lord who dots the sky with clouds, showers the earth with rain, and covers the mountains with grass. He feeds the animals, large and small. Both savage beasts and nestlings look to him for sustenance. He values strength less than the love of those who revere him and rely on him for his mercy.

Praise your God, O Church. He guards you with his power and blesses you. He brings peace and supplies the needs of his faithful. He revealed to the Jewish people his word, the laws he wanted them to follow. And then he sent the Word, Jesus, to spread the good news to all nations and help them attain salvation through His Church. Alleluia!⁷⁰

Psalm 148

M

ay heaven and the angels; all the earth; all sea creatures; all elements of nature: fire, cold, snow, ice, hail, and wind; all mountains and hills; all fruit trees and trees for lumber; all animals wild and domestic; all creatures that creep or fly; all rulers and their subjects; all leaders and judges; all young men and women; all seniors and children bless the Lord. Only he created the earth and the heavens, yet he is close to all his creatures. Alleluia!

Psalm 149

L

et all his faithful celebrate the Lord with a new song. Let them rejoice in their creator with music and dance. He loves his people and will bless the childlike with his saving grace. The righteous will boast of their redemption and sing for joy on their beds upon which they had shed so many tears before. His victorious Church will praise him for their deliverance. And on Judgment Day, they will wield a two-edged sword that will cut both ways: one edge will defeat Satan once and for all and bring justice and eternal joy to the faithful; the other edge will cut the wicked off from the love of God and banish them into the pit where the presence of God will never be felt again. This honor is reserved for his holy ones. Alleluia!

Psalm 150

P

raise God in his Church and with the choirs of angels in heaven. Praise him for his mighty power and wondrous deeds. Praise him because he is magnificent. Bless the Lord with trumpets, stringed instruments, woodwinds, and dance. Let the crashing of cymbals mark the great victory of our Lord Jesus Christ over sin and death. Let all creation make his name glorious. Alleluia!

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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.
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⁷⁰The Psalms, New International Version, St. Joseph Catholic Edition. 

(New Jersey: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 1996), 776.

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.