Psalms 115:1-8

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness.

2 Why let the nations say, “Where is their God?”

3 Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes.

4 Their idols are merely things of silver and gold, shaped by human hands.

5 They have mouths but cannot speak, and eyes but cannot see.

6 They have ears but cannot hear, and noses but cannot smell.

7 They have hands but cannot feel, and feet but cannot walk, and throats but cannot make a sound.

8 And those who make idols are just like them, as are all who trust in them.

Psalms 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.