Psalm 115:1-8

Heathen Idols Contrasted with the LORD.

1 ¹Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But ²to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.

2 ³Why should the nations say, "⁴Where, now, is their God?"

3 But our ⁵God is in the heavens; He ⁶does whatever * He pleases.

4 Their ⁷idols are silver and gold, The ⁸work of man's hands.

5 They have mouths, but they ⁹cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see;

6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell;

7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat.

8 ¹⁰Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115:1-8 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.

Cross References

• 1. Isaiah 48:11; Ezekiel 36:22
• 2. Psalms 29:2; Psalms 96:8
• 3. Psalms 79:10
• 4. Psalms 42:3, 10
• 5. Psalms 103:19
• 6. Psalms 135:6; Daniel 4:35
• 7. Psalms 115:4-8; Psalms 135:15-18; Jeremiah 10:4
• 8. Deuteronomy 4:28; 2 Kings 19:18; Isaiah 37:19; Isaiah 44:10, 20; Jeremiah 10:3
• 9. Jeremiah 10:5
• 10. Psalms 135:18; Isaiah 44:9-11

Footnotes

• [a] Or "faithfulness"
• [b] Lit "Their hands"
• [c] Lit "Their feet"
• [d] Or "are like them"