Psalm 115

Intro

God’s Glory is the central thing in the universe

Psalm 115:1–2 “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

The writer begins this Psalm with a recognition of the purpose of the Psalm. In fact, this opening line can be viewed as a much bigger statement than simply an opening of a song: the Psalmist here is making a claim about all of life.

The Psalmist is describing his posture in life, and is prescribing a posture for those who are listening and singing along.

The posture is this: God is to be worshiped in such a way that we do not seek our own gain as an end in itself, but only so far as it promotes the glory of God above all else.

This is going to frame the rest of the Psalm for us.

On the one hand, we will see that our faith is not one which holds our own prosperity as an ultimate good. The glory of God is our ultimate end, and this is what we should seek above all else.

On the other hand, we will see that God’s character, his steadfast love and faithfulness, will promote the prosperity of his people; this is one of the ways in which he glorifies himself.

So while our own gain is not the reason for our worship of God, the God whom we worship will certainly act for our best possible good.

So when the Psalmist says, “not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,” he is affirming that when he asks God to act, he asks in such a way that holds God’s glory above all else.

And then he even explains further his requests to God: it is for the sake of his steadfast love and faithfulness.

These are characteristics of God which the Scriptures teach richly about. That God cares for his people and provides for them with a steadfast love is one of the major themes of the Scriptures. But the world does not see it this way; the world will often taunt God’s people, because they do not believe that the Lord lives or that he acts in our world.

This leads the Psalmist to say:

Psalm 115:3 “Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”

This is a sentiment from the non-Christian world that has always been prevalent, and is still prevalent today. In fact, this is a line that shows up quite often throughout the Psalms, and its often associated with the suffering of God’s people.

For example, in Psalm 42 we are to imagine a people who have been scattered and are unable to worship God in the temple. Within that scene, the Psalmist writes,

Psalm 42:3–4 “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” These things I remember, as I pour out my soul: how I would go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of praise, a multitude keeping festival.”

These kinds of lines in the Psalms are cutting — they show us a people who have given themselves to the Lord and who depend upon him fully. Yet these people who depend on the Lord have been brough into some great trial or suffering. To the watching world, it seems like their hope in God is for nothing and that God has either abandoned them or has never existed in the first place.

For the ultimate example where this sentiment reaches its peak, we can think of our Lord Jesus when he was being crucified. When he hung there, beaten and suffering terribly, the onlookers mocked him, saying,

Matthew 27:40–43 “and saying, “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” So also the chief priests, with the scribes and elders, mocked him, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ””

Because Jesus had openly professed his ultimate trust in his heavenly Father, and because he claimed to be God’s son, the world mocked him when he was enduring great suffering. To the world around us, suffering is often viewed as proof of God’s displeasure, or of God’s absence.

The Psalmist here, and our Lord also, called upon God even in their suffering. But what the world doesn’t understand is that God often has ways of using suffering for good, to bring about his glory, and that his timing is far wiser than our own understanding of things.

And so Jesus was mocked on the cross, and his disciples were surely mocked as well after Jesus lay dead in a tomb; but that wasn’t the end of the story. For three days later, God raised Jesus from the dead and bestowed on him the name that is above every other name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the father.

In Christ’s suffering we see how God uses perfect timing to bring about the utmost good and glory. If he delivered Jesus from suffering while he still hung on the cross, then the onlookers may have been silenced for the moment; but our salvation would not have been accomplished, and the world would not have seen Jesus Christ raised from the dead. But because God allowed this terribly painful thing to occur, his name received all the more glory.

And so as the Psalmist is committed to the glory of God, and finds himself in suffering, he calls upon the Lord to make his presence known — and can have confidence that the Lord will make his presence known to the world when the time is right.

Apply:

I am sure that this is a relatable topic to your own lives as well. For how often is it that we are enduring a degree of anxiety, or suffering, or trial, or temptation, or difficulty, that makes it appear to the surrounding world as though God has forgotten us? Or how often is it that we might even be tempted to ponder the question ourselves?

But let us not entertain the thought at all — for we know that our God lives. As the Psalmist says,

“Our God is in the heavens, he does all that he pleases.”

This means that when we are allowed to remain in the difficult times for a season, it is because God knows it to be for our good and for his glory. We can have confidence that when God does resolve our suffering, it will be done in the best possible way and at the best possible time.

God will show the Word that he is alive and active, the protector of his people and the one to whom all glory is due.

Once again, God’s glory is the central thing in the universe, and even our suffering points us to this fact.

Now, the rest of this Psalm is going to focus on the monumental difference between God and idols, or the living and true God compared to false gods.

This leads us to our second point: trusting in idols drains our life.

Trusting in idols drains our life

Psalm 115:4–8 “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.

To the world who questions the existence of the Lord the Psalmist now turns his attention. When he considers those who mock God, he also considers their objects of worship. In his day and time, the surrounding world was full of idols in the literal sense: that is, little statues of deities that would be bought and sold in the marketplace.

When he thinks of these idols, there is an immediate irony that becomes apparent. These people mock God or question his existence, but their little idols are made of silver and gold; they are made by human hands. This is a ridiculous thought: that though they do not trust in the Living God, they put their trust in something that was made by one of their peers, something that they bought at a market.

They cannot trust in the invisible God, presumably because he is invisible. They would rather but their trust in something that has a mouth, but doesn’t speak; eyes, but cannot see; noses, but cannot smell; hands, but cannot feel; feet but cannot walk. When he considers these idols, he rightly considers that they are dumb, mute, inatimate objects that themselves only exist because a human made them. Of what value are these, how can these be worthy of trust, and how can one hope in an idol such as this?

The Psalmist then shifts his attention from the idols to those who make them and trust in them:

Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.”

We see that those who make and worship idols inevitable become just as they are: dead and dumb. People who give themselves over to worshiping idols and false gods begin to lose the humanity that makes them so unique. Though they by nature bear the image of the living and true God, this idol worship is making them like their idol: dull, dead, and worthless.

The Psalmist is looking at a world who may be laughing at God now, but he is remembering that God sits on the throne and laughs at them. Those who mock us and the Lord in our times of trouble will not have the last laugh, but they themselves will ultimately experience the greatest loss as a result of their trust in idols and false gods. They will become just like their idols: spiritually empty and dead

Apply:

We can all see this to be true in our own day as well. In America, there are still some who practice idol worship in the most literal sense: they have statues and figures that they make, pray to, and trust in.

But far more often in our culture today the idolatry has taken a different form. Rather than looking to little idols, many people look to other things that are not the Lord.

And to be totally honest, this isn’t substantially different from other forms of idol worship. For even those people that worship literal idols wouldn’t tell you that the little statue is a deity itself, but it represents the deity. So the statue of artemis isn’t artemis, but it represents her. This is at the heart of idolatry.

And so when we, as a people, place our trust in anything that is not the Lord, we are practicing idolatry in substance.

And when we do this, don’t we notice that our life begins to be empty? Doesn’t it seem like idolatry drains our life from us, and causes us to become just like our idols?

It doesn’t start that way, and people don’t ever think it will happen to them. But it always does.

Think of the one who has come to place all their trust in monetary gain: isn’t that a pathway that always leads to great anxiety, workaholism, and vain toil? Don’t they waste their lives chasing dollars, all the while neglecting any lasting joy? Don’t they become just like every other greedy person, worshiping at the altar of the dollar?

I think of the CEO of a 20 billion dollar company that I had a chance to meet once. I remember asking him how he managed a work life balance amongst all his accomplishments: he answered honestly that he didn’t. When he looks at all the pictures of his kids growing up, he isn’t in any of them. He never made any of his kids games. If he ever went on vacation with them, he was off working somewhere while they were making memories. Is that a vibrant life? Or did his money-worship drain him of anything that could be celebrated as real life?

Or those who chase after pleasure, thinking it will offer them a wild and vibrant life: isn’t that a pathway that invariably leads to regret and shame? Doesn’t it lead to a life where you’re just chasing one high after another? Isn’t it the case that people might be satisfied for a season, but then the satisfaction begins to wear off, and so they just start chasing harder and harder until they hit rock bottom? Those who chase this idol become spiritually dead, no longer resembling the image of God.

We could go down the list, but the answer is always the same: we become just like the idols we worship, spiritually drained and dead: a cookie cutter corpse of a human fading slowly into death.

This is what the Psalmist sees when he considers those who mock him while worshiping idols instead of invisible but living God.

But now he turns his attention to the Living God and those who trust in him:

Trusting in the Lord brings us vibrant life

Psalm 115:9–18 “O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.

Here we get the refrain from the Psalmist as he addresses the people of God in three ways:

First, to the nation of Israel: trust in the Lord! For he is our help and our shield.

Then, to the house of Aaron, which is the lineage of the priests in the nation of Israel: Trust in the Lord! For he is our help and our shield.

Then finally, to all who fear the Lord, encompassing everyone regardless of background or heritage: Trust in the Lord! He is our help and our shield.

This is an exhortation to reaffirm their trust in the Living God. Though he is invisible and cannot be seen by our eyes, though he has commanded us not to make an image of him, we know that he is alive and that he does all that he pleases. This living God is our help and our shield, the only one deserving of our trust because he is the only one who can defend us.

Unlike the idols who can be seen but who cannot do anything at all, our God who cannot be seen is living and active in our lives, our strong defender.

The Psalmist continues,

The Lord has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron; he will bless those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. May the Lord give you increase, you and your children! May you be blessed by the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

Here we have further encouragement from the Psalmist that the Lord has not forgotten us, but he has remembered us. To a people who are suffering and who are being told by the world that God has abandoned them, the Psalmist assures them that the Lord has remembered and will certainly act in their favor. He assures them that blessing is coming, that increase is coming for all who trust in the Lord. Whether they are small or great, the Lord will bless them. The Lord will bless them and their children, and the God who created everything will also give everyone who trusts him everything that they need.

The heavens are the Lord’s heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!”

Here there is further contrast between the living and the dead. The dead do not praise the Lord, but they have given themselves over to idols who have drained any and all life from them. they go down into silence.

But those who trust the Lord sing his praises both now and forever, trusting in his strength and might. They recognize that the glory of God is the central thing in this universe, and so they have given themselves to promote the glory of God. These are the people who have been given vibrant life, immense blessing both now and forever.

Apply

And let us also consider how the Lord is our help and shield, how he has blessed us, and why we should commit ourselves entirely to his glory

Earlier in the sermon I mentioned Christ on the cross, and how he endured the mocking of a world that questioned his Father’s presence in his life. I’d like to return to that scene for a moment and consider its impact on our lives as we think about this question of God’s activity.

I’d like to start by saying there is some reason for the world to look on Christ and assume that God was not with him: the position that Christ was in was a miserable one. And if he had suffered all of that, and if he remained in the tomb, the onlookers would have seemed to have been vindicated. But the onlookers had no idea what was going on while they observed Jesus suffering on the cross. They assumed two things about which they were very wrong.

They assumed that God was punishing Jesus for something he had done.

They assumed that Jesus was going to die and remain dead.

Of course, God proved them wrong on both accounts. In fact, what occurred on the cross is the greatest proof that the central claim of Psalm 115 is correct: that those who trust in the Lord will be given vibrant life.

You see, when Jesus was hanging on the cross, and when he died, he also took upon himself the wrath of God for the sins of the world. The world was watching while he died the idolater’s death. Jesus experienced the end of the road for the idolater: true and full death accompanied by the wrath of God.

But Jesus was not experiencing this because of his own idolatry: for Jesus was not an idolater. Rather, Jesus was taking upon himself the punishment for the sins of all who trust in him.

Then, when Jesus rose again from the dead three days later, he rose victorious so that all who trust in him could be assured of eternal, vibrant life that is theirs through faith in him.

The book of Romans teaches us that through faith in Christ, we are united to him both in his death and in his life. This is the source of our abundant and vibrant life. Christ has died the death we deserved for our idolatry, and has given us life flowing over that he earned on our behalf.

Truly, all those who fear the Lord our God are blessed beyond measure. Let us now commit ourselves to praising the Living God who is our help, our shield, our salvation.

FCF: We have an inclination to put our faith in idols, which leads us to death

CFC: Christ took the consequences of our idolatry so that we can experience vibrant life with God.

Bid Idea: Only God is worthy of our faith and trust, and we must commit ourselves wholly to him.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.