Here is a paraphrase of Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16, one of the suggested readings for September 25, 2011 (the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost). It was written by Nathan Nettleton.
Psalm 72: 1-4, 12-16
A Paraphrase
We are keen to learn of you, LORD;
........your people are eager to hear what you have to say.
We listen to those who pass on the old stories;
........the dark mysteries of ancient wisdom.
These are things we must hear and know,
........for the wisdom of our ancestors must not be lost.
We will not deprive our children of these things.
........We will pass on the stories to the next generation, LORD,
................stories of the wonderful things you have done,
........so that they know how great and amazing you are.
Our ancestors saw the miraculous things you did
........when they were still doing hard labour in the land of slavery.
You cut a track through the sea and let them escape;
........you made the angry waters stand aside to let them through.
You sent a cloud to guide them in the daytime,
........and a fire to light the way for them at night.
In the parched outback, you broke open rocks,
........bringing drinking water flooding up from deep below.
You made fresh water pour from the rock;
........a river of life flowing in the desert.
© 2002 Nathan Nettleton LaughingBird.net
For more worship resources related to this text, or other texts for September 25, 2011 (the fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost), click on Proper 21A in the list of “Labels” at the lower right side of the page.
