1. PRAISE THE Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God, for He is gracious and lovely; praise is becoming and appropriate.
2. The Lord is building up Jerusalem; He is gathering together the exiles of Israel.
3. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]. [Ps. 34:18; Isa. 57:15; 61:1; Luke 4:18.]
4. He determines and counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names.
5. Great is our Lord and of great power; His understanding is inexhaustible and boundless.
6. The Lord lifts up the humble and downtrodden; He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises with the harp or the lyre to our God!–
8. Who covers the heavens with clouds, Who prepares rain for the earth, Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9. He gives to the beast his food, and to the young ravens that for which they cry.
10. He delights not in the strength of the horse, nor does He take pleasure in the legs of a man.
11. The Lord takes pleasure in those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy and loving-kindness. [Ps. 145:20.]
12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13. For He has strengthened and made hard the bars of your gates, and He has blessed your children within you.
14. He makes peace in your borders; He fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15. He sends forth His commandment to the earth; His word runs very swiftly.
16. He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool; He scatters the hoarfrost like ashes.
17. He casts forth His ice like crumbs; who can stand before His cold?
18. He sends out His word, and melts [ice and snow]; He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19. He declares His word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. [Mal. 4:4.]
20. He has not dealt so with any [other] nation; they have not known (understood, appreciated, given heed to, and cherished) His ordinances. Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) [Ps. 79:6; Jer. 10:25.]