לְדָוִד בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה' וְכָל קְרָבַי אֶת שֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ

By David. Bless the Lord, my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name.

בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה' וְאַל תִּשְׁכְּחִי כָּל גְּמוּלָיו

Bless the Lord, my soul, and do not forget all His acts of kindness. In times of peace and abundance, people often forget God’s past acts of beneficence; the psalmist warns against this.

הַסֹּלֵחַ לְכָל עֲוֹנֵכִי הָרֹפֵא לְכָל תַּחֲלוּאָיְכִי

It is He who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, referring to both physical and spiritual ailments;

הַגּוֹאֵל מִשַּׁחַת חַיָּיְכִי הַמְעַטְּרֵכִי חֶסֶד וְרַחֲמִים

who redeems your life from the pit of the grave, from death; who crowns you, surrounds you, with kindness and mercy;

הַמַּשְׂבִּיעַ בַּטּוֹב עֶדְיֵךְ תִּתְחַדֵּשׁ כַּנֶּשֶׁר נְעוּרָיְכִי

who sates your spirit with good. Edyekh, translated here as “your spirit,” literally means an ornament, an item of beautification. Here it refers to the “beauty” of one’s life, the spirit. Another interpretation of the word is “your body.” Your youth renewed like an eagle.Eagles live longer than other birds, and also retain their power and strength.

עֹשֵׂה צְדָקוֹת ה' וּמִשְׁפָּטִים לְכָל עֲשׁוּקִים

The psalmist turns to another aspect of God’s praises: The Lord performs righteous deeds and metes out justice to all the oppressed. Although people often undergo suffering, God ultimately delivers justice and rescues them from their enemies.

יוֹדִיעַ דְּרָכָיו לְמֹשֶׁה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל עֲלִילוֹתָיו

Proof for this can be brought not only from the experience of individuals, but also from history: He made His ways known to Moses, showing him repeatedly how He saved Israel from all the perils facing them, and proved His deeds to the children of Israel. The entire nation witnessed firsthand His miraculous deeds, from the exodus from Egypt onward.

רַחוּם וְחַנּוּן ה' אֶרֶךְ אַפַּיִם וְרַב חָסֶד

Merciful and gracious is the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in kindness. This is an allusion to God’s revelation to Moses by the cleft in the rock, where He revealed His attributes of mercy, which include the words of this verse.

לֹא לָנֶצַח יָרִיב וְלֹא לְעוֹלָם יִטּוֹר

Even in times of trouble, we can take comfort in the fact that He will not contend with us to eternity or forever keep His anger; eventually He will forgive us and once again be our Protector.

לֹא כחֲטָאֵינוּ עָשָׂה לָנוּ וְלֹא כַעֲוֹנֹתֵינוּ גָּמַל עָלֵינוּ

He has not dealt with us as harshly as truly befits our sins; He has not requited our iniquities in kind.

כִּי כִגְבֹהַּ שָׁמַיִם עַל הָאָרֶץ גָּבַר חַסְדּוֹ עַל ירֵאָיו

Rather, as high as the heavens above the earth, so is His kindness great for those who fear Him.

כִּרְחֹק מִזְרָח מִמַּעֲרָב הִרְחִיק מִמֶּנּוּ אֶת פְּשָׁעֵינוּ

As far as east is from west, so has He distanced our transgressions from us, in that He no longer remembers them or associates us with them.

כְּרַחֵם אָב עַל בָּנִים רִחַם ה' עַל יְרֵאָיו

Just as a father has mercy on his children, so the Lord has mercy on those who fear Him. God is merciful toward us, not necessarily because we are righteous, but because we are weak and are dependent on Him.

כִּי הוּא יָדַע יִצְרֵנוּ זָכוּר כִּי עָפָר אֲנָחְנוּ

God is aware of how powerless we are and how much we need His kindness and mercy, for He knows how intense our evil impulses are, so likely to cause us to veer from the proper path. He is mindful that we are but dust, physical beings, children of the earth, and that because of this, He cannot expect perfection from us.

אֱנוֹשׁ כֶּחָצִיר יָמָיו כְּצִיץ הַשָֹּדֶה כֵּן יָצִיץ

As for man, his days are like grass, which dries up and withers. He springs up fleetingly like a bud of a wildflower in the field, which wilts shortly after it appears,

כִּי רוּחַ עָבְרָה בּוֹ וְאֵינֶנּוּ וְלֹא יַכִּירֶנּוּ עוֹד מְקוֹמוֹ

and which, when a hot east wind passes over it, it dries out and ceases to be; its own place knows it no more, as no trace of it remains.

ו חֶסֶד ה' מֵעוֹלָם וְעַד עוֹלָם עַל יְרֵאָיו וְצִדְקָתוֹ לִבְנֵי בָנִים

But in contrast to man’s fleeting, ephemeral existence, the kindness of the Lord is forever to those who fear Him; His righteousness extends even for the children’s progeny,

לְשֹׁמְרֵי בְרִיתוֹ וּלְזֹכְרֵי פִקֻּדָיו לַעֲשׂוֹתָם

for those who keep His covenant and remember His precepts to observe them.

ה'בַּשָּׁמַיִם הֵכִין כִּסְאוֹ וּמַלְכוּתוֹ בַּכֹּל מָשָׁלָה

The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; His kingship rules over all facets of creation.

בָּרְכוּ ה' מַלְאָכָיו גִּבֹּרֵי כֹחַ עֹשֵׂי דְבָרוֹ לִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקוֹל דְּבָרוֹ

The psalmist suggests words of praise that we humans, despite our limited power and brief life spans, can offer to God, by calling out to the angels: Bless the Lord, His angels, who are truly capable of praising Him properly, for they are mighty in strength, beings who do His bidding and whose entire reason for existence is the heeding of His word.

בָּרְכוּ ה' כָּל צְבָאָיו מְשָׁרְתָיו עֹשֵׂי רְצוֹנוֹ

Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His servants who do His will, namely, all the creatures of the world, from the most exalted to the lowest.

בָּרְכוּ ה' כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו בְּכָל מְקֹמוֹת מֶמְשַׁלְתּוֹ בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה'

Bless the Lord, all of His works, all of His creations, in all places of His dominion, throughout the entire universe. Bless the Lord, my soul. In reiterating the opening words of the psalm, “Bless the Lord, my soul,” the psalmist emphasizes that this personal prayer is part of a universal chorus of praise.