Psalm 115

 ¹Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,

But to Your name give glory,

Because of Your mercy,

Because of Your truth.

²Why should the Gentiles say,

“So where is their God?”

³But our God is in heaven;

He does whatever He pleases.

⁴Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of men’s hands.

⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak;

Eyes they have, but they do not see;

⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;

Noses they have, but they do not smell;

⁷They have hands, but they do not handle;

Feet they have, but they do not walk;

Nor do they mutter through their throat.

⁸Those who make them are like them;

So is everyone who trusts in them.

⁹O Israel, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

¹¹You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.

¹²The Lord has been mindful of us;

He will bless us;

He will bless the house of Israel;

He will bless the house of Aaron.

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord,

Both small and great.

¹⁴May the Lord give you increase more and more,

You and your children.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;

But the earth He has given to the children of men.

¹⁷The dead do not praise the Lord,

Nor any who go down into silence.

¹⁸But we will bless the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

Commentary

Vs. 1-2 ¹Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,

But to Your name give glory,

Because of Your mercy,

Because of Your truth.

²Why should the Gentiles say,

“So where is their God?”

This Psalm opens with a declaration that we will not receive the glory that is only due the Lord, that is due His Name. For it is by His Name that we are saved from our sins and brought to everlasting life! For there is salvation in no other name, other than the Name of God's Son the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). Therefore His Name is to receive all glory, honor, and praise, for all of His mercy and all of His truth which He has so freely given to us all who believe in Him. This then is to be done openly by us all who believe in Him, for why should the Gentiles (unbelievers) say, “So where is there God?”

Vs. 3 “But our God is in heaven;

He does whatever He pleases.”

Verse three is a most just response to their taunts, to their arrogant unbelief, which only binds them to the "gods'" of this earth, "gods" which last for season then fall to their everlasting ruin. But our God is in heaven, and He does whatever He pleases. For His Sovereign Reign and Power has no limits! 

Vs. 4-8 ⁴Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of men’s hands.

⁵They have mouths, but they do not speak;

Eyes they have, but they do not see;

⁶They have ears, but they do not hear;

Noses they have, but they do not smell;

⁷They have hands, but they do not handle;

Feet they have, but they do not walk;

Nor do they mutter through their throat.

⁸Those who make them are like them;

So is everyone who trusts in them.

Now we see who should really be taunted, all those whose “god” is only an idol, the work of men’s hands, the creation and fabrication of their sinful and debased hearts. And so it is that they fashion their idols into the figure of man, (or woman), giving them mouths (but yet they cannot speak to them), giving them eyes, (but they cannot see them), giving them ears, (but their idols cannot hear their prayers and cries to them), giving them noses but they cannot smell their offerings, giving them hands, but their idols hands cannot uphold, nor save them, giving them feet but their idols cannot walk amongst them, and not a single sound can their idols mutter from their throats to them. Their idols then cannot instruct and guide them in anything; thus, they are only left to follow their own debased hearts and minds reasonings. Everyone then who makes them is just like them, completely dead in their sins and transgressions and utterly devoid of all true Spiritual life, wisdom, and understanding, just like everyone who trusts in them. What then is your god? Is it the Lord Jesus Christ, or is it something or someone far less, for everyone and everything is always exceedingly less than Him, and they, or it will never be able to save you nor satisfy your souls deepest hungers and thirsts (John 6:35-40, 47-48; John 4:13-14; 7:38).

Vs. 9 “O Israel, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.”

Therefore, the call is for Israel; God’s people chosen in Old Testament times who were to prepare the way for His Son, and thus make Him known to all the world, to make Him their trust alone! For He is their help and shield alone, not other nations, nor other peoples “god’s and practices", but the Lord God and His Word alone.

Vs. 10 “O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.”

From the nation collectively, right down to its priesthood who ministered the Old Covenant laws and statutes, all the men who come from Aaron and his house (i.e., his son’s descendant’s), for they were chosen by God to be His leaders in this, to trust in the Lord, for the Lord alone is their help and shield.

Vs. 11 “You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;

He is their help and their shield.”

Finally, the call goes out to everyone who fears the Lord, to trust in the Lord, for He is your help and shield! There then is an equally from God for all who trust in the Lord. 

Vs. 12-13 ¹²The Lord has been mindful of us;

He will bless us;

He will bless the house of Israel;

He will bless the house of Aaron.

¹³He will bless those who fear the Lord,

Both small and great.

The Psalm now reminds us all that the Lord has been mindful of us all as His people; each one of us individually as well of us collectively; thus He will bless the house of Israel collectively and the house of Aaron individually, indeed He will bless all who fear Him both small and great. Now when the Lord blesses us, He adds no sorrow with it, and that is how you will know His blessing to you (Prov. 10:22).

Vs. 14-16 ¹⁴May the Lord give you increase more and more,

You and your children.

¹⁵May you be blessed by the Lord,

Who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;

But the earth He has given to the children of men.

The prayer of blessing (which began in verse twelve) continues invoking God’s blessing upon all of God's people and their children. For God's Word is wanting all of God’s people to know and experience the blessings of the Lord, which can take many forms beyond mere material prosperity, the Psalm even goes so far as to extend this sentiment to all people everywhere. Now in doing this there is the acknowledgment that it is the Lord who made heaven and earth, who is the proprietor of everything, who rules in heaven and all the farthest reaches of the heavens, but He has assigned the earth to the children of men, thus we all bear a responsibility in our governance on it and caretaking of it (consider Rev. 11:18).

Vs. 17-18 ¹⁷The dead do not praise the Lord,

Nor any who go down into silence.

¹⁸But we will bless the Lord

From this time forth and forevermore.

Praise the Lord!

The Psalm closes with the exhortation for believers everywhere to praise the Lord while we are living here on earth! For the dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down to silence. Then it Firmly concludes that we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

Scripture Quotations

New King James (1982): Thomas Nelson.