Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendour and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with an overcoat,
stretching out the heavens like a deep blue dome.
He lays cloud-streets as rafter beams for the sky;
he makes cumulus clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
he makes his ministers a flaming fire.
He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep waters like a cloak;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.
You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every animal in the wild;
the wallabies quench their thirst.
Beside them live the magpies;
they sing carols among the branches.
From your lofty home you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
You make grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for people to cultivate,
that they may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden people’s hearts,
olive oil to make their face shine
and bread to strengthen their hearts.
The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the great karri trees of the south-west that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests;
the wedgetail has her home in the great gum trees.
The high mountains are for the mygalomorph spiders;
the rocks are a refuge for the skinks.
He made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the wild animals creep about.
The dingoes howl for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises, they steal away
and lie down in their dens.
People go out to their work
and to their labour until the evening.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
There go the cruise ships,
and the blue whale, which you formed as your playmate.
These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit, they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the Stirlings and the mist moves on the mountains!1
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from heaven:
praise him from the heights of Toolbrunup.
Praise him, all his angels:
O praise him all his hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon, rippling staircase across the sea:
praise him, all you stars of light.
Praise him you highest heaven:
and you Cross bright against the dark of night.
Let them praise the name of the Lord:
for he commanded and they were made.
He established them for ever and ever:
he made an ordinance which shall not pass away.
O praise the Lord from the earth:
praise him you golden super-pit and caves of glistening stalactites.
Bush-fire and hail, cyclone and heat:
and willy-willies fulfilling his command.
Mountains of iron and giant ant-hills:
gum-trees, and grass-trees, and grey-green plains of spinifex.
Dingoes and kangaroos:
creeping things and long loping emus.
Elders of tribes, and many nations:
refugees and boat-people, and all who’ve crossed the seas.
Young folk and children:
Seniors and toddlers together,
Let them praise the name of the Lord:
for his name alone is exalted.
His glory is above earth and heaven:
and he has lifted high the stocks of his people.
Therefore he is the praise of all his servants:
of the children of the West, a people that is near him. Praise the Lord.
(Acknowledging Professor David Frost’s version of Psalm 148 in A Prayer Book for Australia)
* Toolbrunup – second highest peak (1,052 metres above sea level) in the Stirling Range in the Great Southern region of WA
* Staircase of the Moon – in Broome and Meelup in February and March the rising full moon shines over the east-facing beach to create a spectacular light effect like a staircase.
* super-pit – open-cut gold mine near Kalgoorlie 3.5 x 1.5 km and 600 metres deep.
* willy-willy – local word for dust-storm or mini-tornado.
* spinifex – properly called Triodia, these arid grasses are endemic to outback Australia.
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