Psalms 115:5-15

5 They have mouths, but no voice; they have eyes, but they see not;

6 They have ears, but no hearing; they have noses, but no sense of smell;

7 They have hands without feeling, and feet without power of walking; and no sound comes from their throat.

8 Those who make them are like them; and so is everyone who puts his faith in them.

9 O Israel, have faith in the Lord: he is their help and their breastplate.

10 O house of Aaron, have faith in the Lord: he is their help and their breastplate.

11 You worshippers of the Lord, have faith in the Lord: he is their help and their breastplate.

12 The Lord has kept us in mind and will give us his blessing; he will send blessings on the house of Israel and on the house of Aaron.

13 He will send blessings on the worshippers of the Lord, on the small and on the great.

14 May the Lord give you and your children still greater increase.

15 May you have the blessing of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Psalms 115:5-15 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.