|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness! (Psalm 115:1, ESV)
The Hebrew word for “glory” is “Kabowd” (don’t try to pronounce), and it means “weight.” Not in the sense of weighing objects but what we give emphasis to, what we desire, and when referring to God’s glory — presence, actual reality, truth, love, provision, magnificence — or the “weight” of holiness.
We choose what we give “weight to,” but does the object of our desires give anything back? This is the emphasis or “weight” of Psalm 115.
Psalm 115 was written after the Babylonian captivity. It depicts Jerusalem without the idols of our countries, and answers this question of those visiting the city …
Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases (vv. 2-3).
Now, a quote from a commentator about Israel and idolatry …
Idolatry had always been Israel’s most habitual and costly sin, and even though their prophets ridiculed these man-made gods and the Lord chastened Israel often, the people persisted in breaking God’s laws. Israel did not seem to learn its lesson until Babylon carried the people away captive after destroying Jerusalem and the temple. In the great city of Babylon, two or three generations of Jews saw idolatry firsthand and the kind of society it produced. This cured them [my emphasis].
After Babylon, no idols existed in Jerusalem, only dependence upon the sole Living God. Israel’s captivity lasted 70 years. I entered Russia after its own 70-year Marxist experiment with godless socialism and found no food in stores, buildings in disrepair, and a ruined economy.
Any country, any culture, and any economy that doesn’t give glory (weight) to God has within itself the seeds of its own destruction.
Verses 4 through 7 mock the idols of the countries surrounding Israel (also anything that we depend upon other than God) — mouths that don’t speak, ears that do not hear, noses that don’t smell, hands that do not feel, and feet that don’t walk. Idols take our allegiance and never give back.
I’ve often thought, “Why did the Israelites ever worship deaf, dumb, and literally stone-cold idols, especially when they had a heritage of experience with the Living God?” But I imagine that the angels in heaven peering down upon us might be asking, “With God blessing their country abundantly, why do they depend on their money, lean upon their own understanding with science, attend churches without true discipleship, and be surprised when they encounter doubt, fear, and anxiety, because those idols never provide comfort?”
Psalm 115:8 gives one of the most articulate warnings in all of Scripture …
Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.
We become what we give weight to, what we glorify, and what we adore. We become addicted, angry, fearful, and depressed by worshipping idols rather than God. Jesus gives this warning …
For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes – so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them (Matthew 13:15, NLT).
Let’s remember this lesson from Psalm 115:11: “You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield,” and, from Psalm 115:15: “May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.”
When our weight is God’s weight, we receive His glory.
Amen. Peace out!