Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 115:6

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 115-117 Saved from death

God was always faithful to Israel, though the Israelites were often unfaithful to him. Their sins brought God’s punishment upon them, causing their pagan neighbours to mock them with the accusation that their God was unable to help them and had deserted them (115:1-2). The Israelites reply that their God is alive and in full control. The pagan gods, by contrast, are useless, and the reason they are useless is that they are lifeless. Those who trust in them will achieve nothing (3-8).
Israel’s people will therefore trust in God for help and protection (9-11). They know that he will bless them and their descendants after them, for he is the almighty Creator (12-15). He has given the earth to humankind as a dwelling place, but has limited the number of years that each person may live on it. Therefore, God’s people should make sure that they fill their few short years with praise to him (16-18).

In Psalms 116:0 an individual worshipper brings a sacrifice to God to pay his vows and offer thanks (see v. 17-18). Before offering his sacrifice, he pauses to think quietly on the great mercy and love of God. As he does so, he finds that his own love towards God increases, particularly when he recalls how God has answered his prayers and saved his life (116:1-4). He has personally experienced God’s compassion and goodness (5-7). When he was unable to help himself and when so-called friends proved useless, he still trusted God. He prayed, and God gave him new life (8-11). He will now publicly thank God by offering prayers and sacrifices in fulfilment of his vow (12-14). He sees how highly God values the life of the believer. God does not allow him to die, as if death is a thing of no importance in God’s sight. God preserves him alive, and for this he offers overflowing thanks (15-19).

God’s loyal love to Israel should cause his people to spread the good news of his love to other nations. This, in turn, will cause the people of those nations to bring their praise to him (117:1-2).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE WAY IT IS WITH HEATHEN IDOLS

“Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not; Eyes they have, but they see not; They have ears, but they hear not; Noses have they, but they smell not; They have hands, but they handle not; Feet have they, but they walk not; Neither speak they through their throat. They that made them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them.”

This is one of the classic passages in the Old Testament regarding idols. It ranks along with passages in Isaiah 40; Isaiah 42; and Isaiah 44 and is repeated verbatim in Psalms 135:15-18.

We are surprised that Addis expresses the old heathen apology for idols, stating that, “The heathen did not, as the psalmist assumes, identify the idol and god.”W. E. Addis, p. 392. Among the most intellectual pagans, that distinction was probably made. Indeed, Israel attempted to use it when they made the golden calf, affirming that it was the same as the God, “who brought them up out of Egypt (Exodus 32:4; Exodus 32:11).” God allowed no such apology for an idol, and men should not allow it today.

As Delitzsch said, the psalmist here probably knew from his own experience, “How little was the distinction made by the heathen worshipper between the symbol and the thing symbolized.”F. Delitzsch, Vol. V-C, p. 211.

The widespread lack of information concerning the entire subject of idols and the consecration of sacred images, which to all intents and purposes are indeed no different from ancient pagan idols, is pitiful indeed. For further extensive comment on this subject, see Vol. II of my series on the Pentateuch (Exodus), pp. 272-275.

The essential evil in all idols (and images) is that any symbolism ascribed to them is a falsehood. By its very nature, any religious image is false, being a lying presentation of what is allegedly represented. How can that which is material represent that which is spiritual? How can that which is helpless represent omnipotence? How can that which decays represent life eternal? How can that which is not intelligent represent omniscience? How can that which is dumb, blind, unfeeling, deaf and dead represent any of the vital realities of God and his holy religion?

“There is abundant proof that the heathen did indeed trust their idols, as revealed by Herodotus, V:80 and VIII: 64,83.”The Pulpit Commentary, op. cit., p. 61. Thus, the “assumption of the psalmist here” that the heathen were actually worshipping idols, as contrasted with what they were supposed to represent, is altogether true.

“They that make them shall be like unto them… yea, every one that trusteth in them.” The principle that men become like the object of their adoration holds good if that object is a dead idol. This imprecation applies not only to the craftsmen who made the idols, but to those who employed them, “And is extended in the climax, to all idolaters, every one that trusteth in them.”International Critical Commentary, op. cit., p. 394.

Regarding all idols and sacred images, even those in nominal Christian churches, there are several divine prohibitions. It is a sin: (1) to make them; (2) serve them; (3) or even to bow down in front of them; and (4) of course, a sin to worship them. (See a full discussion of this third item in Vol. 12, of my New Testament Commentaries (Revelation), pp. 435,436, 511-513.) It is a sin to bow the head, genuflect, bend the knee or make obeisance to any sacred image, even if the person doing so mistakenly thinks he is worshipping what the image is alleged to symbolize. The sin is making any such gesture “in front of a man-made image.”

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

They have mouths ... - They are shaped like people, but have none of the attributes of intelligent beings.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 115:1-18 :

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to thy name give glory ( Psalms 115:1 ),

Here again we have the same idea. Don't reverend me. "Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name." Let there be ascribed glory and reverence and awe.

for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Why should the heathen say, Where is now their God? ( Psalms 115:1-2 )

A lot of times people do say that. They say, "Well, where was your God when, you know. What happened to your God then, pal?" "Why should the heathen say, 'Where is now their God?'"

Our God is in the heavens: he has done whatsoever he hath pleased ( Psalms 115:3 ).

I need to remember that. "He has done what He has pleased." May not please me, but that isn't what's important.

Now referring again to the heathen, their idols. "Our God is in the heavens." He rules. But,

Their idols are silver and gold, they are the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they can't see: They have ears, but they can't hear: they have noses, but they don't smell: They have hands, but they cannot handle: they have feet, but they cannot walk: and neither do they speak through their throats. They that make them are like unto them; and so is every one that trusteth in them ( Psalms 115:4-8 ).

Now here is a philosophy expressed by the psalmist that is extremely profound as he observes the heathens and their gods. And the first observation that he makes is that men have a tendency to make their own god. Man has an innate desire to worship. And having this innate desire to worship, having to worship something, men make their own gods. But when a man makes a god, he makes his god like himself. So that my god is in reality a projection of myself. So in truth, I am actually worshipping myself. Self-worship. For he notices that when they make their gods, they carve mouths. They carve eyes. They carve ears. They carve feet and hands. Why? You carve hands in your little god? Because you have hands. Why do you carve a mouth? Because you have a mouth. Why do you carve ears? Because you have an ear.

When we were over in New Guinea, the missionaries told us of a tribe of people who have a congenital hip dislocation. And this whole tribe of people, it's a congenital thing; they all have a deformity of their right leg which is shorter than their left through this congenital hip problem. And they said that all of the little gods that this particular tribe carved out have a deformed right leg. Because a man makes a god like himself, a projection of myself. It is known as the anthropomorphic concept of God. Widely recognized. Man makes gods like himself.

But then the psalmist observed that though a man has made a god like himself, he has actually made his god infinitely less than himself. Because though I may carve out eyes on my little god, the eyes on my little god can't see. Though I may carve feet on my little god, they can't walk. Though I may carve hands on it, it can't handle. Though I may carve ears on it, it can't hear. Though I may carve a mouth on it, it can't speak. So I've made a god like myself, but in reality, I have made my god less than myself. And the final observation of the psalmist is, they that have made them have become like the gods that they have made. Or a man becomes like his god. This is a truth of life that you cannot escape. You are becoming like your god, whatever your god is. A man becomes like his god.

Now, if I have made my own god like myself but I've made my god less than myself, then by worshipping the god that I have made, I am degrading myself. I am becoming less than I was. Because I'm becoming like my god. And my god is less than me because I've made my god like myself, but actually less than myself. So my god is insensate. It can't feel, it can't see, it can't hear. I become insensate. I no longer can feel the presence of God. I can no longer feel the touch of God. I can no longer see the hand of God. I can no longer hear the voice of God. I'm becoming insensate just like the little god that I made. For a man becomes like his god. If your god is false, you're becoming false. If you're god is cruel, you're becoming cruel.

A man becomes like his god. That can be the greatest curse in all the world. Or it can be the greatest blessing in all the world. It's all relative as to who is your god. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we're going to be: but we know that, when He appears, we're going to be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" ( 1 John 3:2 ). You see, a man becomes like his god. "We, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed from glory to glory, into His same image" ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). I'm becoming like my God everyday. And if I'm worshipping the true and the living God, how glorious it is as I am being transformed into His image daily as I worship Him. Man becomes like his god.

Now the New Testament tells us, "We are now the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we're going to be. We know when He appears, we'll be like Him." So you have actually in one side of it, man making a god like himself, infinitely less than himself; and thus, man being degraded as he worships his god. On the other hand, you have God making a man more than himself. More than man could ever be in himself. And thus, the worship of the true and the living God is always an elevating experience as God is conforming you into His image. Making you like Him.

Now I've either made a god like me, or God is making me like Him. You're in one of the two. You're either on the path down or the path up. Every man has a god. Don't believe a man who says, "I'm an atheist," because a god is only a title, and it is the title of what is the master passion of that person's life. What's the guiding principle of his life? Watch him for a while and you can see. Maybe the guiding passion of his life is pleasure and his whole life is lived for pleasure. Molech is his god. Maybe his whole life is lived for power and he's trying to control things, money, possessions and all. And Mammon is his god. Maybe he's trying to develop his intellect and the expansion of his consciousness and his understanding and all and he's made this the chief goal of life. Then Baal is his god. Every man has a god. Some of them are rather worthless gods, but gods indeed. And how good it is to worship and serve the true and the living God. Not one that I've created in my own mind. Not a concept that I have created. But to take the revelation of God of Himself to us and to worship the true and the living God.

So interesting observations from the psalmist here concerning the heathen and their gods.

O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: for he is your help and your shield. O house of Aaron, trust in Jehovah: he is your help and your shield. Ye that reverence Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: for he is their help and their shield. Jehovah hath been mindful ( Psalms 115:9-12 )

And, of course, here again compounding, "O Israel, Aaron and ye that fear the Lord." It's a compounding of the idea, Hebrew poetry.

The Lord hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great ( Psalms 115:12-13 ).

Same compounding with the blessings now.

The LORD shall increase you more and more, and your children. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men ( Psalms 115:14-16 ).

The heavens were the Lord's, but God gave the earth to man. But man blew it and gave it to Satan. And Satan now possesses the earth. But Jesus came to redeem the earth back to God, and before long He's going to take and claim that which He purchased. And I can hardly wait.

The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence ( Psalms 115:17 ).

Now this is one of the proof text for soul sleep, but I don't have time to go into it tonight. We'll go into it when we get to Ecclesiastes, where the scripture definitely teaches is that there is a consciousness. This is the psalmist expressing a thought of his own mind, and it is much like Job where God said, "What do you, you know, what are you talking about death? You haven't been beyond the gates of hell. You don't know what's there. And talking out of your head." And so here the psalmist is speaking of things which are not in keeping with the whole body of scripture which tells us that of the state of the dead, and especially the words of Christ.

But we will bless the LORD from this time forth for evermore. Hallelujah ( Psalms 115:18 ).

May the Lord be with you now and fill you with His love. May He guide you through this week. Entering into that time of the year where pressures always increase as we prepare to celebrate the pagan holiday of Saturnalia in our own Christianized form. May God protect you from the crass commercialism and keep you out of the hype of man. That you lose not sight of God and the things of the Spirit. But may more and more we become spiritually minded. And may we walk in the Spirit that we will not be guilty of fulfilling the desires of our own flesh. May the Lord be with you now and bless and keep you in the love of Jesus Christ. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 115

This anonymous psalm instructs God’s people to trust in the Lord rather than in idols.

"Psalms 115 is one psalm with Psalms 114 in the LXX and the Vulgate. However, there is little doubt that they form two separate psalms. The motifs and genre of the psalms are too different. Psalms 114 is in the form of a hymn describing the wonder of Israel’s redemption from Egypt, whereas the literary forms of Psalms 115 are quite varied and include lament, liturgy, and confidence.

"Psalms 115 may be classified as a psalm of communal confidence. The psalms of communal confidence are closely related to communal thanksgiving songs and to communal laments. The psalms of communal confidence convey a sense of need as well as a deep trust in the Lord’s ability to take care of the needs of the people. There are three such psalms (115, 125, 129)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 719. Cf. Bullock, p. 175.]

Other scholars see Psalms 46 as one of these psalms and exclude Psalms 115. [Note: E.g., H. Kraus, Psalmen 1:iii.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

2. The contrast between Yahweh and the idols 115:3-8

Israel’s God was not on earth, as the idols were. He is in heaven, and He does whatever He pleases. The psalmist did not mean that Yahweh is capricious but that He is a free agent, independent of the actions of His worshippers. God is sovereign. In contrast, the gods Israel’s neighbors worshipped were human products made, in some cases, out of metal, even though costly metal. They had some of the attributes of human beings but were totally impotent and lifeless. All human beings tend to become like their God or gods. Idol worshippers become as powerless as their gods.

"Ultimately divine revelation is the difference between the religions of man and the true religion of the Lord." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 721.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

They have ears, but they hear not,.... The makers of them have taken care to place a pair of ears to their heads, but could not convey the faculty of hearing to them; so that though their priests may cry from morning to noon, as Baal's worshippers did, saying, O Baal, hear us; and even tonight, and one day and night after another, nothing is heard, 1 Kings 18:26. Indeed the image of Jupiter at Crete was made without ears; because it was thought unbecoming that he, who was prince and lord of all, should give ear to any y: but the God of heaven and earth is a God hearing prayer; his ear is not heavy, that it cannot hear; his ears are always open to the cries of his people.

Noses have they, but they smell not; the incense that is set before them, nor the sacrifices offered to them, Deuteronomy 4:28, but our God smelled a sweet savour in legal sacrifices, offered up in the faith of the Messiah; and especially he smells a sweet savour in the sacrifice of his Son, and in the prayers of his saints, which are sweet odours; and particularly as they come to him perfumed with the incense of Christ's mediation, Genesis 8:21.

y Plutarch. de Isid. & Osir. prope finem.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.   2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?   3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.   4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.   5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:   6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:   7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.   8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

      Sufficient care is here taken to answer both the pretensions of self and the reproaches of idolaters.

      I. Boasting is here for ever excluded, Psalms 115:1; Psalms 115:1. Let no opinion of our own merits have any room either in our prayers or in our praises, but let both centre in God's glory. 1. Have we received any mercy, gone through any service, or gained any success? We must not assume the glory of it to ourselves, but ascribe it wholly to God. We must not imagine that we do any thing for God by our own strength, or deserve any thing from God by our own righteousness; but all the good we do is done by the power of his grace, and all the good we have is the gift of his mere mercy, and therefore he must have all the praise. Say not, The power of my hand has gotten me this wealth,Deuteronomy 8:17. Say not, For my righteousness the Lord has done these great and kind things for me, Deuteronomy 9:4. No; all our songs must be sung to this humble tune, Not unto us, O Lord! and again, Not unto us, but to thy name, let all the glory be given; for whatever good is wrought in us, or wrought for us, it is for his mercy and his truth's sake, because he will glorify his mercy and fulfil his promise. All our crowns must be cast at the feet of him that sits upon the throne, for that is the proper place for them. 2. Are we in pursuit of any mercy and wrestling with God for it? We must take our encouragement, in prayer, from God only, and have an eye to his glory more than to our own benefit in it. "Lord, do so and so for us, not that we may have the credit and comfort of it, but that thy mercy and truth may have the glory of it." This must be our highest and ultimate end in our prayers, and therefore it is made the first petition in the Lord's prayer, as that which guides all the rest, Hallowed be thy name; and, in order to that, Give us our daily bread, c. This also must satisfy us, if our prayers be not answered in the letter of them. Whatever becomes of us, unto thy name give glory. See John 12:27; John 12:28.

      II. The reproach of the heathen is here for ever silenced and justly retorted.

      1. The psalmist complains of the reproach of the heathen (Psalms 115:2; Psalms 115:2): Wherefore should they say, Where is now their God? (1.) "Why do they say so? Do they not know that our God is every where by his providence, and always nigh to us by his promise and grace?" (2.) "Why does God permit them to say so? Nay, why is Israel brought so low that they have some colour for saying so? Lord, appear for our relief, that thou mayest vindicate thyself, and glorify thy own name."

      2. He gives a direct answer to their question, Psalms 115:3; Psalms 115:3. "Do they ask where is our God? We can tell where he is." (1.) "In the upper world is the presence of his glory: Our God is in the heavens, where the gods of the heathen never were, in the heavens, and therefore out of sight; but, though his majesty be unapproachable, it does not therefore follow that his being is questionable." (2.) "In the lower world are the products of his power: He has done whatsoever he pleased, according to the counsel of his will; he has a sovereign dominion and a universal uncontrollable influence. Do you ask where he is? He is at the beginning and end of every thing, and not far from any of us."

      3. He returns their question upon themselves. They asked, Where is the God of Israel? because he is not seen. He does in effect ask, What are the gods of the heathen? because they are seen. (1.) He shows that their gods, though they are not shapeless things, are senseless things. Idolaters, at first, worshipped the sun and moon (Job 31:26), which was bad enough, but not so bad as that which they were now come to (for evil men grow worse and worse), which was the worshipping of images, Psalms 115:4; Psalms 115:4. The matter of them was silver and gold, dug out of the earth (man found them poor and dirty in a mine, Herbert), proper things to make money of, but not to make gods of. The make of them was from the artificer; they are creatures of men's vain imaginations and the works of men's hands, and therefore can have no divinity in them. If man is the work of God's hands (as certainly he is, and it was his honour that he was made in the image of God) it is absurd to think that that can be God which is the work of men's hands, or that it can be any other than a dishonour to God to make him in the image of man. The argument is irrefragable: The workmen made it, therefore it is not God,Hosea 8:6. These idols are represented here as the most ridiculous things, a mere jest, that would seem to be something, but were really nothing, fitter for a toy shop than a temple, for children to play with than for men to pray to. The painter, the carver, the statuary, did their part well enough; they made them with mouths and eyes, ears and noses, hands and feet, but they could put no life into them and therefore no sense. They had better have worshipped a dead carcase (for that had life in it once) than a dead image, which neither has life nor can have. They speak not, in answer to those that consult them; the crafty priest must speak for them. In Baal's image there was no voice, neither any that answered. They see not the prostrations of their worshippers before them, much less their burdens and wants. They hear not their prayers, though ever so loud; they smell not their incense, though ever so strong, ever so sweet; they handle not the gifts presented to them, much less have they any gifts to bestow on their worshippers; they cannot stretch forth their hands to the needy. They walk not, they cannot stir a step for the relief of those that apply to them. Nay, they do not so much as breathe through their throat; they have not the least sign of symptom of life, but are as dead, after the priest has pretended to consecrate them and call a deity into them, as they were before. (2.) He thence infers the sottishness of their worshippers (Psalms 115:8; Psalms 115:8): Those that make them images show their ingenuity, and doubtless are sensible men; but those that make them gods show their stupidity and folly, and are like unto them, as senseless blockish things; they see not the invisible things of the true and living God in the works of creation; they hear not the voice of the day and the night, which in every speech and language declare his glory, Psalms 19:2; Psalms 19:3. By worshipping these foolish puppets, they make themselves more and more foolish like them, and set themselves at a greater distance from every thing that is spiritual, sinking themselves deeper into the mire of sense; and withal they provoke God to give them up to a reprobate mind, a mind void of judgment,Romans 1:28. Those that trust in them act very absurdly and very unreasonably, are senseless, helpless, useless, like them; and they will find it so themselves, to their own confusion. We shall know where our God is, and so shall they, to their cost, when their gods are gone, Jeremiah 10:3-11; Isaiah 44:9, &c.