▼67:1 Verse 1: There are three words or groups of words in this verse that are very important. They are:

– Be gracious: this means ‘be kind when you do not have to be kind.’ God should punish (hurt) us because we do not obey his rules (sin). Because he is gracious, he does not do this. He gives us time to say that we are sorry. If we do this, then he forgives us. This means that he gives our sin to Jesus. When Jesus died on Calvary, he took our sin away. God punished Jesus for our sin. God will not punish us if we ask him to forgive us. Jesus never did anything wrong. He was not a sinner. But God punished him for our sin.

– Bless us: this means ‘give good things to us.’ In the Old Testament, the things are ‘harvest things.’ When you plant a seed, it grows into something. A seed in a woman grows into a baby. The right sort of seed in the ground grows into something that you can eat. When God blesses someone, it means that they have a lot of children and plenty to eat. The fruits that grow in the ground we call the ‘harvest.’ So, this verse asks God to give us children and food – and plenty of other things also!

– Make your face to shine: this means the same as ‘be gracious and bless.’ It is an example of Hebrew poetry. The two parts of the verse mean the same. When God is angry he looks away from us. When he is not angry he looks towards us. He is happy and his face shines! Maybe it means that God has a big smile on his face!!

▼67:2 Verse 2: If the ‘us’ in verse 1 means the Israelites, verse 2 means that when God blesses the Israelites, then the whole world will know about God. It will also know that he can save them too. ‘Save’ here means ‘make safe while we live on this earth, and after we die.’

▼67:3 Verse 3: This verse is a ‘refrain’ or ‘chorus.’ It comes again in verse 5, and in a different way in verse 7.

▼67:4 Verse 4: Again we find the idea that we found in verse 2. If people see that God is good to the Israelites, then he will be good to everyone! ‘People’ in this verse probably means ‘God’s people, the Israelites.’ ‘The nations’ are people from other countries that are not Israelites. The word ‘joy’ means what you feel deep inside you when you are very happy.

▼67:5 Verse 5: This repeats verse 3. We call this kind of repeat in a song a ‘refrain’ or ‘chorus.’ Christian songs often have choruses.

▼67:6 Verse 6: In Hebrew poetry, the two parts of a verse often mean the same. Here is another good example. Remember, there was one in verse 1. ‘Bless’ means ‘Give a harvest’ – either children, or fruit, or many other things.

▼67:7 Verse 7: God does many things that show that he is very powerful. This makes many people afraid. If people love God, they are not afraid in a bad way, but in a good way. We call this being ‘in awe’ of God. Awe is a good sort of fear! Fear is another word for ‘being afraid.’