Praise for Jerusalem’s Restoration and Prosperity.
1 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our [gracious and majestic] God;
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 [healing their pain and comforting their sorrow]. [Ps 34:18; Is 57:15; 61:1; Luke 4:18]
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our [majestic and mighty] Lord and abundant in strength;
His understanding is inexhaustible [infinite, boundless].
6 The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises to our God with the lyre,
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who provides rain for the earth,
Who makes grass grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the beast its food,
And to the young ravens that for which they cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength (military power) of the horse,
Nor does He take pleasure in the legs (strength) of a man.
11 The Lord favors those who fear and worship Him [with awe-inspired reverence and obedience],
Those who wait for His mercy and lovingkindness. [Ps 145:20]
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates,
He has blessed your children within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders;
He satisfies you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16 He gives [to the earth] snow like [a blanket of] wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He casts out His ice like fragments;
Who can stand before His cold?
18 He sends out His word and melts the ice;
He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow.
19 He declares His word to Jacob,
His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. [Mal 4:4]
20 He has not dealt this way with any [other] nation;
They have not known [understood, appreciated, heeded, or cherished] His ordinances.
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!) [Ps 79:6; Jer 10:25]