"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 for evermore.
Praise the Lord!"
Psalm 115
The affirmation of faith expressed in 3 is significant - whether made by the exiles in their predicament or by any other in like circumstances: God is in control, and sovereignly so. That is where their God is - on the Throne. It is this that sets the contrast with what follows in 4-8, in the caustic and sarcastic exposure of idols. We should observe what is happening here: Kidner rightly observes that the Psalmist regains the initiative from the scoffers in 2. This is salutary to remember, when under pressure and subjected to the contempt of the ungodly. And it prompts the question, 'Why should we always be so much on the defensive as Christians?' True, men scorn us, and make our stand the butt of their jokes and laughter. But our God is on the throne, and He controls the destinies of men and of nations. What have they to offer? Look at the idols they worship. It is a salutary exercise to consider this - TV personality cults, pop-idols, sports stars – these empty, clay-footed 'gods' of the modern world. And they are pathetic; look at the final statement in 8, 'They that make them are like unto them'. How true this is! One has only to look at their faces, on TV, on the street, to see the emptiness, the hardness, the coarseness, the futility of their whole lives. What a way to live!
Fading is the worldling's pleasure All his boasted pomp and show; Solid joys and lasting treasure None but Zion's children know.