To God Be the Glory

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.” -Psalm 115: 1, 11 (ESV) [Read Psalm 115]

Psalms 115-118 were sung by Jews after the Passover Meal. Psalm 115 may well have been the psalm sung by Jesus and his disciples after they finished the meal which we know as “The Last Supper” (see Mark 14:26). Psalm 115 is a magnificent psalm of praise that can be outlined as follows:

1. God Reigns (vv. 1-3)
2. God Lives (vv. 4-8)
3. God Gives (vv. 9-15)
4. God Deserves Our Praise (vv. 16-18)

All people who know the Lord can exult and give praise. “Alleluia! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!” (Revelation 19:6, NKJV). He reigns as sovereign God of the universe. Because of the Lord’s steadfast love and faithfulness and his ever-continuous reign, we who fear—stand in awe—of Him praise and magnify Him.

God Almighty is above any idol and worthy of worship. Scholars remind us that after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites no longer went after idols. In the seventy-year exile there, they saw firsthand the fallacy of idol worship. As we sometimes say, that “cured” then of their sin of going after idols. The poetic device of anthromorphism—of giving human characteristics to things not human—was used to describe the fallacy of idols. They have mouths but do not speak. They have eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear. They have noses but do not smell; hands but have no power to help; feet but the idols could not walk; they had to be carried from place to place. The sad thought is that we become like what we worship. Those who worship idols become insensate like them. By contrast, worshiping our God who lives enables us to have ears that hear his Word, eyes that see needs we can fill in Jesus’ name, hands that are eager to do His work. Even our worship rises as “sweet incense” and our gifts “as a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God” (Philippians 4:18).

Trust is the theme of the third section (vv. 9-15) of Psalm 115. As we trust in him, His blessings are poured out upon us. Even in the hard times, we grow stronger because of our dependence upon Him and our unfailing trust in Him. Because He is the maker of heaven and earth, we should worship Him—not His creation—and certainly not what we think we have “created” for ourselves. Take verse 15 for what it says and promises: “May you be blessed by the lord who made heaven and earth.”

The psalmist saw only the living praising the Lord, but we as Christians look forward to praise forever in the courts of our God. Psalm 115:17 could subtly refer to those who worship “dead” idols as being themselves dead and therefore unable and unworthy to praise God. One of the principal points made by this psalm is the vivid contrast between those who worship the living God and those who worship dead idols, or the gods they make for themselves. But praise be to God, “we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” Amen! - Ethelene Dyer Jones 04.24.2016