1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
12 The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron;
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD,
both the small and the great.
14 May the LORD give you increase,
you and your children!
15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
who made heaven and earth!
16 The heavens are the LORD's heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.
17 The dead do not praise the LORD,
nor do any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the LORD
from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the LORD! – Psalm 115:1-18 ESV
The anonymous author of this psalm opens with a prayer requesting Yahweh to glorify His own name for His own sake. While this petition sounds selfless and focused on God's glory alone, the request has an ulterior motive. The psalmist is asking Yahweh to reveal His unfailing love and faithfulness for His chosen people by performing an act of divine intervention. Some unforeseen situation has taken place that requires a literal act of God, and the psalmist unashamedly begs Yahweh to do the impossible.
Whatever their dilemma, the psalmist was willing to let Yahweh get all the glory for delivering His people. They needed help, not credit. In a blatant attempt to appeal to Yahweh’s pride, the psalmist poses a hypothetical scenario in the form of a question.
Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?” – Psalm 115:2 ESV
He suggests that any inaction on God's part will come across as impotence to their pagan neighbors. These idol worshipers will view Israel’s God as powerless in the face of their superior deity. If Yahweh doesn’t do something spectacular and sooner rather than later, their enemies will end up mocking Him and glorifying their own gods.
The psalmist knew that Yahweh was a jealous God who refused to share His glory with anyone or anything else. The prophet Isaiah had recorded Yahweh’s unequivocal perspective on the matter.
“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else, nor share my praise with carved idols.” – Isaiah 42:8 NLT
When He gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Yahweh clarified His views on idol worship.
“You must not have any other god but me.
“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.” – Deuteronomy 5:7-9 NLT
Almost as if he is trying to prove his allegiance to Yahweh, the psalmist provides his personal opinion on the idiocy of idolatry.
Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,
shaped by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak,
and eyes but cannot see.
They have ears but cannot hear,
and noses but cannot smell.
They have hands but cannot feel,
and feet but cannot walk,
and throats but cannot make a sound.
And those who make idols are just like them,
as are all who trust in them. – Psalm 115:4-8 NLT
Unlike Yahweh, who is all-powerful and not of this earth, these lifeless manmade statues are mute, blind, and completely impotent. They are the figment of a man's imagination and the work of his hands, and Yahweh ridiculed the pagan nations that placed their hope in these harmless and helpless symbols of hope.
“Their ways are futile and foolish.
They cut down a tree, and a craftsman carves an idol.
They decorate it with gold and silver
and then fasten it securely with hammer and nails
so it won’t fall over.
Their gods are like
helpless scarecrows in a cucumber field!
They cannot speak,
and they need to be carried because they cannot walk.
Do not be afraid of such gods,
for they can neither harm you nor do you any good.” – Jeremiah 10:3-5 NLT
Yet, the psalmist knew that his own people were guilty of trusting in the false gods of their enemies. Apostasy and idolatry had been an ongoing problem within the nation of Israel from the very beginning. That is why he addresses the Israelites directly and challenges them to place their hope in the one true God: Yahweh.
O Israel, trust the LORD!
He is your helper and your shield.
O priests, descendants of Aaron, trust the LORD!
He is your helper and your shield.
All you who fear the LORD, trust the LORD!
He is your helper and your shield. – Psalm 115:9-11 NLT
He knew Yahweh would not act if His covenant people remained stubbornly disobedient and unfaithful. So, he calls on the people and the priests to repent and return to Yahweh. If they wanted to see the LORD’s salvation, they would need to treat Him with the dignity and honor He deserved.
Long before the people of Israel set foot in the land of Canaan, Yahweh had warned them to remain faithful to the covenant commitment they had made with Him. Moses left nothing to the imagination when he declared the non-negotiable conditions of the covenant.
“The Lord has declared today that you are his people, his own special treasure, just as he promised, and that you must obey all his commands. And if you do, he will set you high above all the other nations he has made. Then you will receive praise, honor, and renown. You will be a nation that is holy to the Lord your God, just as he promised.” – Deuteronomy 26:18-19 NLT
That is the point the psalmist had in mind when he wrote: “The LORD remembers us and will bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and bless the priests, the descendants of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the LORD, both great and lowly” (Psalm 115:12-13 NLT). Obedience brings blessing. If the Israelites wanted to see God act, they would need to obey. If they wanted to experience the blessings of God, they would need to treat Him with honor and respect.
While this psalm opens up by addressing Yahweh directly, its message is aimed at the disobedient and disengenuous people of God. The entire discussion about idols was for their benefit and intended to remind them of the futility of placing their hope in anything or anyone other than Yahweh, “the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 115:15 NLT).
It seems likely that the psalmist had Deuteronomy 28 in mind when he penned the words of his song.
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world. You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
Your towns and your fields
will be blessed.
Your children and your crops
will be blessed.
The offspring of your herds and flocks
will be blessed.
Your fruit baskets and breadboards
will be blessed.
Wherever you go and whatever you do,
you will be blessed.” – Deuteronomy 28:1-6 NLT
They had experienced Yahweh's blessings over the years. But now they faced an uncertain future because they had been unfaithful to their covenant commitments. But it was not too late. They could change their ways. They could reverse course. All that was required was repentance, a rejection of their false gods, and a return to their commitment to worship Yahweh alone. And to drive home his point, the psalmist gives them the choice between death and sold-out devotion to their God.
The dead cannot sing praises to the LORD,
for they have gone into the silence of the grave.
But we can praise the LORD
both now and forever!
Praise the Lord! – Psalm 115:17-18 NLT
Continued disobedience would bring God's judgment and, ultimately, death. But repentance would result in redemption and a restoration of God's covenant blessings. The choice was theirs.
Father, we love to see You perform powerful acts of deliverance. We like reading the stories that record Your miraculous interventions on behalf of Your people. But we tend to forget that You desire faithfulness from those who bear Your name and benefit from Your goodness. We love the idea of unmerited favor and undeserved grace, but tend to take your favor for granted and cheapen your grace by treating it with contempt. Like the psalmist, we want to see You intervene on our behalf, but we fail to recognize that You still require obedience and sold-out worship from Your people. You remain a jealous God who will not tolerate unfaithfulness or spiritual infidelity. Show me how to live with expectation of Your power while maintaining a passion for Your glory. It seems odd to expect deliverance from the God we so often treat with disinterest. Amen
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
