Have a look at how Psalm 33 gets translated in the Message.
(The message is the work and intellectual property of Eugene Peterson. No animals were harmed in the writing of this blog post. Blah, blah, blah...)
Psalm 33 (The Message, copyright Eugene Peterson)
1-3 Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
Play his praise on a grand piano!
Invent your own new song to him;
give him a trumpet fanfare.
4-5 For
God's Word is solid to the core;
everything he makes is sound inside and out.
He loves it when everything fits,
when his world is in plumb-line true.
Earth is drenched
in
God's affectionate satisfaction.
6-7 The skies were made by
God's command;
he breathed the word and the stars popped out.
He scooped Sea into his jug,
put Ocean in his keg.
8-9 Earth-creatures, bow before
God;
world-dwellers—down on your knees!
Here's why: he spoke and there it was,
in place the moment he said so.
10-12 God takes the wind out of Babel pretense,
he shoots down the world's power-schemes.
God's plan for the world stands up,
all his designs are made to last.
Blessed is the country with
God for God;
blessed are the people he's put in his will.
13-15 From high in the skies
God looks around,
he sees all Adam's brood.
From where he sits
he overlooks all us earth-dwellers.
He has shaped each person in turn;
now he watches everything we do.
16-17 No king succeeds with a big army alone,
no warrior wins by brute strength.
Horsepower is not the answer;
no one gets by on muscle alone.
18-19 Watch this: God's eye is on those who respect him,
the ones who are looking for his love.
He's ready to come to their rescue in bad times;
in lean times he keeps body and soul together.
20-22 We're depending on
God;
he's everything we need.
What's more, our hearts brim with joy
since we've taken for our own his holy name.
Love us,
God, with all you've got—
that's what we're depending on.
Labels: creation, god, musings, worship
