Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
House of Israel, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
The Lord remembers us and 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—
small and great alike.
May the Lord cause you to increase,
both you and your children.
May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to humankind.
It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord.
My thoughts -
Look at what the psalmist says about what those who worship other gods worship:
But their idols are silver and gold,How much more useless does it get than this? They have the appearance of something that can do, well, something, but that appearance is misleading. They are worthless. They are laughably, pitiably worthless.
made by human hands.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
Who would make their own god, we want to ask? Who would craft an image with their own hands and then bow down and worship it, hoping that it would have the divine properties its maker has claimed for it? That seems crazy and stupid. They should know better. We know better, that's for sure.
But do we? What do we worship? What has our attention and adoration? In what do we place our hope? Is it the Lord? Is it the economy? Is it the military? Is it the local basketball team? Do we give more adoration to that which we have created or that which has created us?
The psalmist here says that not only do these idols have the appearance of something useful and yet fail to function in that way, but that the people who worship them become like that which they worship.
What we adore shapes us. What we place our hope in shapes us. What we give ourselves to shapes us. What we give the bulk of our attention to shapes us.
The psalmist here contrasts the uselessness of the idols against that which the Lord has done for his people. While the idols may be worthless the Lord blesses his people. While the idols have nothing to offer but false promises the Lord delivers. God created the world and everything in it. For this we, the living, give God praise. I love the hope found in the last line:
It is not the dead who praise the Lord,We, the living, praise God both now and forevermore. We have life now. We use that life to praise our Maker and Sustainer. We have life to come. We use all of eternity to praise our Deliverer. We praise God now. We praise God forever. And we are forever blessed by a God that is far greater than any useless idol we could make for ourselves in this life.
those who go down to the place of silence;
it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord.
Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.8
No comments:
Post a Comment