Reflections on Psalms 115

 Psalms 115(Contemporary English Version)

1. We don't deserve praise! The LORD alone deserves all of the praise, because of his love and faithfulness.
   
2. Why should the nations ask, "Where is your God?"
   
3. Our God is in the heavens, doing as he chooses.
   
4. The idols of the nations are made of silver and gold.
   
5. They have a mouth and eyes, but they can't speak or see.
   
6. Their ears can't hear, and their noses can't smell.
   
7. Their hands have no feeling, their legs don't move, and they can't make a sound.
   
8. Everyone who made the idols and all who trust them are just as helpless as those useless gods.
   
9. People of Israel, you must trust the LORD to help and protect you.
   
10. Family of Aaron the priest, you must trust the LORD to help and protect you.
    
11. All of you worship the LORD, so you must trust him to help and protect you.
    
12. The LORD will not forget to give us his blessing; he will bless all of Israel and the family of Aaron.
    
13. All who worship the LORD, no matter who they are, will receive his blessing.
    
14. I pray that the LORD will let your family and your descendants always grow strong.
    
15. May the LORD who created the heavens and the earth give you his blessing.
    
16. The LORD has kept the heavens for himself, but he has given the earth to us humans.
    
17. The dead are silent and cannot praise the LORD,
    
18. but we will praise him now and forevermore. Shout praises to the LORD!

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The psalmist seeks vindication among the nations while also affirming Israel's trust in the sovereign God of Israel. Previously, Israel had lost sight of God's greatness and turned to the idols of the other nations. As a result she was sent into exile in Babylon. Having turned attention back to God, the psalmist asks God to vindicate them by demonstrating His power on their behalf so the other nations do not ask, "Where is their God?" They were being taunted by the other nations that their God had forgotten them or maybe even that He was incapable of coming to their aid. What the psalmist was seeking was not only a vindication for Israel but also for God Himself.

A comparison is then made between the sovereign God of Israel and the idols of the other nations. "God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases." (115:3) By contrast, the idols are made of silver and gold and can't do anything. Though they have mouths and eyes and hands and feet, none of them function. They are inanimate. Those who make the idols and who trust in them are just like them - unable to do anything in their own power. They are impotent whereas the God of Israel is omnipotent.

Was Israel still tempted to turn her trust from God to the idols? We might wonder as the psalmist exhorts the people to "trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield." (115:9) "He will bless those who fear the LORD--small and great alike." (115:13) It is the Lord, not the idols, who is "Maker of heaven and earth." And as Maker, He retains the heavens to Himself, "but the earth He has given to the human race." (115:16) The unspoken question then, is "why would anyone trust in an inanimate idol?"

In the closing verses of the psalm the psalmist says, in effect, While we still have life, "we will praise the Lord." For "It is not the dead who praise the Lord."