הַלְלוּיָהּ כִּי טוֹב זַמְּרָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ כִּי נָעִים נָאוָה תְהִלָּה

Halleluya, for it is good to sing to our God. Praising God is good not only in a moral sense; it also brings happiness to the person praising Him, for it is pleasant to sing to Him. Praise is lovely.

בּוֹנֵה יְרוּשָׁלִָם ה' נִדְחֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל יְכַנֵּס

In the following verses the psalmist begins with praise of God’s greatness and emphasizes the way in which His power is manifest in the cosmos as a whole. God also provides assistance to all people and to other beings in distress. The Lord is the builder of Jerusalem; He gathers in the dispersed of Israel. God will bring back those who have fled or who have been exiled to different places.

הָרֹפֵא לִשְׁבוּרֵי לֵב וּמְחַבֵּשׁ לְעַצְּבוֹתָם

He heals the brokenhearted and binds their wounds. The word atzvotam, translated here as “their wounds,” more literally means “their sorrows.” God “binds their wounds” spiritually as well as physically, providing solace for those in sorrow.

מוֹנֶה מִסְפָּר לַכּוֹכָבִים לְכֻלָּם שֵׁמוֹת יִקְרָא

He sets a number for the stars. The stars belong to Him; they are all numbered by Him. And He calls them all by name; because they all belong to Him, He gives each one a name.

גָּדוֹל אֲדוֹנֵינוּ וְרַב כֹּחַ לִתְבוּנָתוֹ אֵין מִסְפָּר

Our Lord is great and abundant in strength; His understanding is beyond measure.

מְעוֹדֵד עֲנָוִים ה' מַשְׁפִּיל רְשָׁעִים עֲדֵי אָרֶץ

Here the psalmist returns from discussing the cosmos to the world of man: The Lord heartens the humble and casts the wicked to the ground.

עֱנוּ לַה' בְּתוֹדָה זַמְּרוּ לֵאלֹהֵינוּ בְכִנּוֹר

Sing to the Lord with songs of thanksgiving; sing praises with the lyre to our God, lauding His providence and greatness always and everywhere.

הַמְכַסֶּה שָׁמַיִם בְּעָבִים הַמֵּכִין לָאָרֶץ מָטָר הַמַּצְמִיחַ הָרִים חָצִיר

Our God is He who covers the heavens with clouds, who provides the earth with rain, and who makes grass grow on the mountains.

נוֹתֵן לִבְהֵמָה לַחְמָהּ לִבְנֵי עֹרֵב אֲשֶׁר יִקְרָאוּ

He gives food to the beasts. God cares for all His creatures, and attends even to the fledgling ravens, among the most pitiful and unsightly creatures, when they call.

לֹא בִגְבוּרַת הַסּוּס יֶחְפָּץ לֹא בְשׁוֹקֵי הָאִישׁ יִרְצֶה

Such care is solely an expression of God’s kindness; it is in no way indicative of a reciprocal relationship between God and His creatures: It is not the might of horses that He desires; nor does He want the legs of a man, the legs representing a person’s main source of stability and strength.

רוֹצֶה ה' אֶת יְרֵאָיו אֶת הַמְיַחֲלִים לְחַסְדּוֹ

The Lord wants those who fear Him, regardless of whether they are powerful or brave, those who long for His kindness.

שַׁבְּחִי יְרוּשָׁלִַם אֶת ה'; הַלְלִי אֱלֹהַיִךְ צִיּוֹן

The psalmist shifts focus: Extol the Lord, Jerusalem; praise your God, Zion. God has a special relationship with Jerusalem, His city, and with His Temple.

כִּי חִזַּק בְּרִיחֵי שְׁעָרָיִךְ בֵּרַךְ בָּנַיִךְ בְּקִרְבֵּךְ

For He has strengthened the bars of your gates. With His divine protection, He bolsters, as it were, the bars of the city’s gates against enemy forces trying to gain entrance. He has blessed your sons within.

הַשָֹּם גְּבוּלֵךְ שָׁלוֹם; חֵלֶב חִטִּים יַשְׂבִּיעֵךְ

It is He who sets your borders at peace, referring both to the borders of the Land of Israel and to those of Jerusalem, and sates you with the fat of wheat, the most desired and nutritious part of the wheat kernel.

הַשֹּׁלֵחַ אִמְרָתוֹ אָרֶץ עַד מְהֵרָה יָרוּץ דְּבָרוֹ

Here the psalmist returns to the world as a whole: It is God who sends His commands to earth, His word swiftly running. God’s commandments have an immediate impact on earth.

הַנֹּתֵן שֶׁלֶג כַּצָּמֶר; כְּפוֹר כּאֵפֶר יְפַזֵּר

Who bestows snow that is like fleece in its pure whiteness, and scatters frost like ashes, as a layer of frost on the ground is as fine and smooth as a layer of ash;

מַשְׁלִיךְ קַרְחוֹ כְפִתִּים ; לִפְנֵי קָרָתוֹ מִי יַעֲמֹד

flinging His ice, in the form of hail and snow, like crumbs. Who can withstand His cold?

יִשְׁלַח דְּבָרוֹ וְיַמְסֵם יַשֵּׁב רוּחוֹ יִזְּלוּ מָיִם

But then, in time He sends His word and melts them. At God’s word, all the ice and snow melt. He makes His wind blow. His warm breeze, God’s breath, as it were, melts them, and they flow like water.

מַגִּיד דְּבָרָו לְיַעֲקֹב חֻקָּיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו לְיִשְׂרָאֵל

In addition to all this, we should be grateful for something else: He declares His words, the words of the Torah, to Jacob, His statutes and laws to Israel.

לֹא עָשָׂה כֵן לְכָל גּוֹי וּמִשְׁפָּטִים בַּל יְדָעוּם הַלְלוּיָהּ

He did not do so with any other nation; they do not know the laws of God. The Torah and its commandments are God’s exclusive gift to the people of Israel. Halleluya.