Psalms 115:1-7

1 Not to us, LORD, not to us, But to your name give glory, For your lovingkindness, and for your truth's sake.

2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God, now?"

3 But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.

5 They have mouths, but they don't speak; They have eyes, but they don't see;

6 They have ears, but they don't hear; They have noses, but they don't smell;

7 They have hands, but they don't feel; They have feet, but they don't walk; Neither do they speak through their throat.

Psalms 115:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 115

This psalm is by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, joined to the former, and makes one psalm with it: and Kimchi says, that in some books the psalm does not begin here; but in the best and correct copies of the Hebrew, and in the Targum, it stands a distinct psalm; and the different subject matter or argument shows it to be so. It is ascribed to various persons; by some to Moses and the Israelites, when pursued by Pharaoh: by others to the three companions of Daniel, cast into the fiery furnace: by others to Mordecai and Esther, when Haman distressed the Jews: by others to the heroes at the times of Antiochus and the Maccabees; so Theodoret: by some to Jehoshaphat, when a numerous army came against him; and by others to David, which is more probable; though on what occasion is not easy to say: some have thought it was written by him, when insulted by the Jebusites, 2Sa 5:6. The occasion of it seems to be some distress the church of God was in from the Heathens; and the design of it is to encourage trust and confidence in the Lord; and to excite the saints to give him the glory of all their mercies, and to expose the vanity of idols.