Psalm 115:1-8
1 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.
Do you want glory, fame, popularity? Most of us do, and we fill our minds with self-centered fantasies of how wonderful we are. It fills some deep need in us to be "special", desirable, powerful. When we do that, we're creating an idol, something that gets the glory that God deserves. The truth is that God is in the heavens and is all-powerful (verse 3). We are not, and our idols are dumb and empty compared to God (verses 4-8). What's worse, if we put our faith in idols, we will become dumb and empty like them (verse 8), so instead of becoming "special" we actually lose part of our true selves. The way to wholeness is in dying to self, not exalting self.
"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory" (verse 1)
1 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.
Do you want glory, fame, popularity? Most of us do, and we fill our minds with self-centered fantasies of how wonderful we are. It fills some deep need in us to be "special", desirable, powerful. When we do that, we're creating an idol, something that gets the glory that God deserves. The truth is that God is in the heavens and is all-powerful (verse 3). We are not, and our idols are dumb and empty compared to God (verses 4-8). What's worse, if we put our faith in idols, we will become dumb and empty like them (verse 8), so instead of becoming "special" we actually lose part of our true selves. The way to wholeness is in dying to self, not exalting self.
"Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory" (verse 1)