בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה'

Bless the Lord, my soul. This is more than an introductory phrase; it also evokes the spirit of this psalm, which is an outpouring of praise from an individual’s point of view rather than a more dispassionate or seemingly objective outline of God’s creation. The person praising God is central to this hymn of praise. Lord my God, You are greatly exalted; You are clothed in splendor and glory. The psalm begins with praise of God Himself before shifting to a broader, more detailed description of the world, depicted here as a kind of ornament or apparel for God.

ה' אֱלֹהַי גָּדַלְתָּ מְּאֹד הוֹד וְהָדָר לָבָשְׁתָּ עֹטֶה אוֹר כַּשַֹּלְמָה נוֹטֶה שָׁמַיִם כיְרִיעָה

Enveloping the world with light as if with a cloak. The expression oteh or kasalma is interpreted in other contexts as referring to God wrapping Himself, as it were, in a garment of light. Here, however, the explanation is that He envelops the world with light. He spreads out the heavens like a tent cloth.

הַמְקָרֶה בַמַּיִם עֲלִיּוֹתָיו הַשָֹּם עָבִים רְכוּבוֹ הַמְהַלֵּךְ עַל כַּנְפֵי רוּחַ

He covers His upper chambers with water. As related in Genesis, the heavens, called here the “upper chambers,” are described as covered over with water. He makes clouds His chariot; He moves on wings of wind. God rides, as it were, upon the clouds and through the wind.

עֹשֶׂה מַלְאָכָיו רוּחוֹת מְשָׁרְתָיו אֵשׁ לֹהֵט

He makes the winds His messengers as they do His bidding, the flaming fires His servants.

יָסַד אֶרֶץ עַל מְכוֹנֶיהָ בַּל תִּמּוֹט עוֹלָם וָעֶד

He established the earth on its foundations, never to be shaken.

תְּהוֹם כַּלְּבוּשׁ כִּסִּיתוֹ עַל הָרִים יַעַמְדוּ מָיִם

He covered the depths, the great subterranean stores of water, as one covers himself with a garment; He covered the depths with land. But at first, in the early stages of creation, waters stood above the entire earth, including the mountains.

מִן גַּעֲרָתְךָ יְנוּסוּן מִן קוֹל רַעַמְךָ יֵחָפֵזוּן

The waters covered the earth until God issued the command: “Let the water beneath the heavens be gathered to one place, and let the dry land appear.” Thereupon, at Your rebuke they fled; at the sound of Your thunder they hastened away. The next two verses provide further detail of this phenomenon.

יַעֲלוּ הָרִים יֵרְדוּ בְקָעוֹת אֶל מְקוֹם זֶה יָסַדְתָּ לָהֶם

They rose to the mountains and descended in the valleys, until they arrived at the sea, to the place You established for them.

גְּבוּל שַׂמְתָּ בַּל יַעֲבֹרוּן בַּל יְשֻׁבוּן לְכַסּוֹת הָאָרֶץ

After the waters converged into the seas, You set a boundary, the seashore, which they could not cross, so they would not come back to cover the earth.

הַמְשַׁלֵּחַ מַעְיָנִים בּנְּחָלִים בֵּין הָרִים יְהַלֵּכוּ

Besides what is found in subterranean stores and in the sea, there is yet another source of water in the world: He sends forth springs, feeding streams that course through the ravines; between the mountains they flow.

יַשְׁקוּ כָּל חַיְתוֹ שָׂדָי יִשְׁבְּרוּ פְרָאִים צְמָאָם

Water is ubiquitous in nature, present in desolate as well as settled areas. But though it is an inanimate part of nature, it is closely linked to living creatures, for these waters sustain life: They give drink to all beasts of the field; wild asses quench their thirst with them.

עֲלֵיהֶם עוֹף הַשָּׁמַיִם יִשְׁכּוֹן מִבֵּין עֳפָאיִם יִתְּנוּ קוֹל

Birds of the sky dwell alongside them, as well as among the vegetation that grows near the streams, giving voice among the branches.

מַשְׁקֶה הָרִים מֵעֲלִיּוֹתָיו מִפְּרִי מַעֲשֶׂיךָ תִּשְׂבַּע הָאָרֶץ

He waters the mountains, too high to obtain water from the springs, with rain that falls from His upper chambers, the heavens; the earth is sated with the product of Your works, the rain.

מַצְמִיחַ חָצִיר לַבְּהֵמָה וְעֵשֶׂב לַעֲבֹדַת הָאָדָם לְהוֹצִיא לֶחֶם מִן האָרֶץ

And through that rainfall, He makes grass grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, for the beasts of burden with which he does his work, as well as ears of grain for bringing forth bread from the earth for man to eat.

וְיַיִן יְשַׂמַּח לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ לְהַצְהִיל פָּנִים מִשָּׁמֶן וְלֶחֶם לְבַב אֱנוֹשׁ יִסְעָד

And in addition to these, He brings forth from the ground grapes for wine, which gladdens man’s heart, as well as olives, making the face glisten from their oil, by applying it to the skin as a moisturizer. And bread, to sustain man’s heart. The three basic staples of life: bread, wine, and oil, all sprout from the earth, with the help of the rains.

יִשְׂבְּעוּ עֲצֵי ה'אַרְזֵי לְבָנוֹן אֲשֶׁר נָטָע

The trees of the Lord, that is, trees of vast proportion, sate themselves from the rainwater and from the ground’s nutrients; the cedars of Lebanon are a specific example of a very large tree that He planted.

אֲשֶׁר שָׁם צִפֳּרִים יְקַנֵּנוּ חֲסִידָה בְּרוֹשִׁים בֵּיתָהּ

In those trees is where birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the junipers.

הָרִים הַגְּבֹהִים לַיְּעֵלִים סְלָעִים מַחְסֶה לַשְׁפַנִּים

The high mountains are habitats for the ibex, the rocks a shelter for the hyrax. Like the ibex, the rock hyrax, also known as the rock badger, lives in the mountains, and hide among the crags of the mountains for better protection from eagles.

עָשָׂה יָרֵחַ לְמוֹעֲדִים שֶׁמֶשׁ יָדַע מְבוֹאוֹ

Having provided a geographical description of the world and all that grows in it, the psalmist shifts his attention to another aspect of the world, time: He made the moon for appointed times, by which dates of the month are established; the sun knows its setting. Whereas the movements of the moon are not completely regular, and its times of rising and setting change over the course of the month, the sun “knows” when to set, following a predictable pattern.

תָּשֶׁת חֹשֶׁךְ וִיהִי לָיְלָה בּוֹ תִרְמֹשׂ כָּל חַיְתוֹ יָעַר

Shifts in time also affect the daily cycle of life: You bring darkness and it becomes night, when all the beasts of the forest are astir, as the animals of the forest, especially the predators, are active mostly at night.

הַכְּפִירִים שֹׁאֲגִים לַטָּרֶף ולְבַקֵּשׁ מֵאֵל אָכְלָם

The young lions roar for prey, asking the Almighty for their food. The roar of a lion sets its prey running in the direction that is most desirable for the lion; moreover, the prey is easier to spot and pursue when it runs. The psalmist poetically sees in the lion’s roar not only a means to catch its prey, but also a kind of plea to God for food.

תִּזְרַח הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ יֵאָסֵפוּן וְאֶל מְעוֹנֹתָם יִרְבָּצוּן

When the sun rises they withdraw and return to their lairs, and crouch in their dens.

יֵצֵא אָדָם לְפָעֳלוֹ וְלַעֲבֹדָתוֹ עֲדֵי עָרֶב

At that point, when daylight arrives, man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening.

מָה רַבּוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ ה'כֻּלָּם בְּחָכְמָה עָשִׂיתָ מָלְאָה הָאָרֶץ קִנְיָנֶךָ

The psalmist exclaims his awe and wonder at God’s works: Lord, how manifold are Your deeds, in wisdom have You made them all. Everything You created has its own unique niche and set of interactions with other creatures and with the environment as a whole. The earth is full of Your possessions.

זֶה הַיָּם גָּדוֹל וּרְחַב יָדָיִם שָׁם רֶמֶשׂ וְאֵין מִסְפָּר חַיּוֹת קְטַנּוֹת עִם גְּדֹלוֹת

Until this point, the psalmist has described the wonders of life on earth; here he proceeds to describe an area less visible to the human eye: There is the sea, vast and broad; an innumerable swarm of organisms is in it, creatures both great and small.

שָׁם אֳנִיּוֹת יְהַלֵּכוּן לִוְיָתָן זֶה יָצַרְתָּ לְשַׂחֶק בּוֹ

The sea is so vast that there ships go, traveling great distances; and it can house the leviathan, a giant sea creature, which You created to frolic with, as it were. Although it is massive beyond the dimensions of any other creature, even the leviathan is like a plaything in God’s hands.

כֻּלָּם אֵלֶיךָ יְשַׂבֵּרוּן לָתֵת אָכְלָם בְּעִתּוֹ

They all, all the creatures of the sea, land, and air mentioned earlier, fix their hopes on You, their true source of sustenance, to give them their food at the proper time.

תִּתֵּן לָהֶם יִלְקֹטוּן תִּפְתַּח יָדְךָ יִשְׂבְּעוּן טוֹב

When You give it to them, they gather it. At times, the food is available, but the creatures must search for it and gather what they can; at other times, when You open Your hand and release all Your bounty, they are sated amply with good.

תַּסְתִּיר פָּנֶיךָ יִבָּהֵלוּן תֹּסֵף רוּחָם יִגְוָעוּן וְאֶל עֲפָרָם יְשׁוּבוּן

On the other hand, there are also times when You hide Your face, withholding Your goodness from them. Since they are completely dependent on Your kindness, they take fright, distraught from the lack of sustenance. Moreover, eventually all life comes to an end; when You take away their spirit, they die and return to their dust.

תְּשַׁלַּח רוּחֲךָ יִבָּרֵאוּן וּתְחַדֵּשׁ פְּנֵי אֲדָמָה

Yet when You send forth Your spirit, they are created. Your creative spirit can also renew life, and You renew the face of the land.

יְהִי כְבוֹד ה' לְעוֹלָם יִשְׂמַח ה' בְּמַעֲשָׂיו

Having completed his description of all the various creatures and their circumstances, the psalmist concludes: May the glory of the Lord endure forever. May the Lord rejoice in His works.

הַמַּבִּיט לָאָרֶץ וַתִּרְעָד יִגַּע בֶּהָרִים וְיֶעֱשָׁנוּ

While God’s glory is evident in the everyday functioning of the world, there are also occasions when God reveals His power in a more dramatic fashion: He who looks at the earth, and it trembles just from His stern gaze, like a servant who quakes at his master’s scowl. Who touches the mountains, and they smoke. At a touch from God, as it were, volcanos spew fire and smoke.

אָשִׁירָה לַה' בְּחַיָּי אֲזַמְּרָה לֵאלֹהַי בְּעוֹדִי

The psalmist now adds his personal note of praise: I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God as long as I am able.

יֶעֱרַב עָלָיו שִׂיחִי אָנֹכִי אֶשְׂמַח בַּה'

May my utterance please Him, may He accept it favorably. But in any event, I rejoice in the Lord.

יִתַּמּוּ חַטָּאִים מִן הָאָרֶץ וּרְשָׁעִים עוֹד אֵינָם בָּרְכִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת ה' הַלְלוּיָהּ

After completing this description of the universe as a single, interconnected, harmonious entity comprised of countless varied parts and life forms, all of which are the work of God’s hands, the psalmist cannot refrain from noting that there are those who spoil its beauty and perfection. It is for them that he prays at the end of this hymn: May sinners be removed from the earth, and may the wicked be no more. The psalmist concludes with the same words with which he opened the psalm: Bless the Lord, my soul. Halleluya. This word can be interpreted in two ways. It may be a composite of the two words hallelu Ya, meaning “praise the Lord.” Alternatively, it may be understood as a single word, an expansion of the word hallel, in which case it means “a great praise.”