1. BLESS (AFFECTIONATELY, gratefully praise) the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great! You are clothed with honor and majesty–
2. [You are the One] Who covers Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain or a tent,
3. Who lays the beams of the upper room of His abode in the waters [above the firmament], Who makes the clouds His chariot, Who walks on the wings of the wind,
4. Who makes winds His messengers, flames of fire His ministers. [Heb. 1:7.]
5. You laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be moved forever. [Job 38:4, 6.]
6. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. [Gen. 1:2; II Pet. 3:5.]
7. At Your rebuke they fled; at the voice of Your thunder they hastened away.
8. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place which You appointed for them.
9. You have set a boundary [for the waters] which they may not pass over, that they turn not again to deluge the earth.
10. He sends forth springs into the valleys; their waters run among the mountains.
11. They give drink to every [wild] beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst there.
12. Beside them the birds of the heavens have their nests; they sing among the branches. [Matt. 13:32.]
13. He waters the mountains from His upper rooms; the earth is satisfied and abounds with the fruit of His works.
14. He causes vegetation to grow for the cattle, and all that the earth produces for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food out of the earth–
15. And wine that gladdens the heart of man, to make his face shine more than oil, and bread to support, refresh, and strengthen man's heart.
16. The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly and are filled with sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He has planted,
17. Where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
18. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the conies and badgers.