Psalms 115:1-11

1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy and for thy truth.

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

3 But our God is in the heavens; he has made whatever he has desired.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

5 They have mouths, but they shall never speak; they have eyes, but they shall never see:

6 They have ears, but they shall never hear; they have noses, but they shall never smell;

7 they have hands, but they shall never touch; they have feet, but they shall never walk; they shall never speak through their throat.

8 Let those that make them become like unto them, and every one that trusts in them.

9 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD; he is your help and your shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD; he is your help and your shield.

11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD; he is your help and your shield.

Psalms 115:1-11 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.