Bless The Nations And Psalm 115
Author: Joseph JagdePsalm 115 reads as follows from the NIV version of the Bible:
1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by the hands of men.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
6 they have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but they cannot smell;
7 they have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but they cannot walk;
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the LORD—
he is their help and shield.
12 The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless the house of Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the LORD—
small and great alike.
14 May the LORD make you increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.
17 It is not the dead who praise the LORD,
those who go down to silence;
18 it is we who extol the LORD,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the LORD.
This psalm pivots around verse 17 which depicts idolatry as involving a kind of death spiral, where those who are practicing idolatry are going down a road to absolute silence.
In talking about idols, it says that they have mouths but do not speak and eyes but they do not see in verse 5 and those that engage them will be similar in drowning in the silence of falsehoods.
The reiteration of the idea of silence is given in verse 17 and this again goes into the idea of idolatry mentioned earlier in this psalm as applied to practices by nations and or individuals within these nations who have unfortunately become unified in the practice of idolatry.
Anybody can touch into idolatry and this is something to guard against and watch out for. Good things taken to extremes such as the wanton acculturation of wealth can form into idolatry and practiced understanding and acknowledgement needs to be given to the truths of verse 3 which says:
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
This psalm is talking about the idolatry of forming figures representing god's from the workmanship of silver and gold, but idolatry goes beyond this and if someone already knows the Lord they still might get caught in drifts and forms of idolatry but more so that aspect of the psalm is speaking to people who have got it wrong from the get go.
There is a sense of being lost within idolatry as those who are in the middle of idolatry will be like their idols who are inanimate, and there is a lost sense of direction, purpose, understanding and just about everything that goes into not being lost and finding your way.
If you are trusting in idols, you have inanimate help or help that has no power and idolatry can be trusting even in a plan or an idea of how you must do things. The plan or idea is inanimate, The plan doesn't know you or have the power to do something for you.
Nobody but the Lord has the ultimate directions and blueprint and the power and intention to do anything about it..
Anybody can relate to getting lost and losing their sense of direction while traveling or taking a wrong turn on a road and suddenly being in unfamiliar surroundings. The realms of idolatry will always be unfamiliar because it involves a place of being lost.
Someone can be on the right road and make the wrong turn into idolatry or they are lost right from the beginning and need to somehow find that right road for the first time.
These people haven't literally lost their senses, but by not having the prayer relationship with the true God they are in effect and reality silenced to the truth and in that downward spiral mentioned in verse 17.
Verses 9 through 11 and 12 through 14 tandem or refrain with each other as three verses then three verses that relate back to the prior three.
The blessings are there for the inner circle of the house of Israel and the house of Aaron ad verse 11 identifies all who fear him which means all who have freely gone into relationship with the Lord whomever and wherever they might be including those outside of the house of Israel and the house of Aaron..
There is also the possibility for blessings for all others, meaning all other nations and all other individuals if they come around or come to their senses and trust the Living God and the Lord of all. The call is to trust in the Lord and seek his awesomeness.
The call is to all and to pray for all.
From 1 Timothy Chapter 2 we read the following verses:
1 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.
From the point of view of the one person praying, this person should be praying and intervening not only for the smaller matters at hand but also for all nations and all people, whether they themselves are smaller or greater.
Don't make too much of anything including markers such as the ideas of success as the Lord will stride with you even in the middle of so called failures.
Because the idea that I have to be at a certain point, a certain status, goes against that the Lord is in control and accessible at all points. So believing I have to be at a certain point of say achievement to deal with the Lord goes into a falsehood that is lending itself to idolatry and buying to much into any of the machinations of society including telling you where you must be and when can be a subtle form of idolatry.
Extra time spent with the Lord will help balance away the always beckoning lures of idolatry. Staying away from idolatry is more important than anything else and that comes first otherwise you will be begin to be lost for yourself.
This psalm clearly shows that a buildup of idolatry can start a downward spiral into ultimate silence at both a national level and an individual level. In mentioning the nations in verse 2 this psalm is showing how just about a whole nation can lost in idols, and there can be a collective aspect to the seeking of idols.
The call to fear or know the Lord and to trust him is an open call to everyone great and small and the Lord will meet you right were you are, even if you are the lowest person on the totem pole even momentarily he will meet you right there at that rung of the ladder.
The first call went to the insiders of the house of Israel and the house of Aaron but the outsiders and all men are called to know and engage in a relationship with the Lord.
The increase is with the Lord and is found no where else
Those involved with idolatry including nations found themselves getting an increase which they erroneously attributed to their idols. The reason why they had increases even though they were involved in idolatry is that the Lord is good to all and gives increase to all.
In Matthew Chapter 5 verse 45 it says," that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
This is why the prayer of thanksgiving and praise is important in properly attributing the increase to the presence and power of the Lord so you know and have proper sense as to where the source of this increase is coming from.
Don't get tripped up by idols of any sort.
As far as who is great and small, you may not know yourself where exactly you are on that continuum of great or small.. But smaller still means you are under the purview of the blessing if you are with the ways of the Lord.
In verse 16 of this psalm says,
.16 The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
but the earth he has given to man.
He gave the earth as a gift, why look for idols there within what was a gift?
Whoever the small actually are, it doesn't necessarily follow that the small receive small gifts. On a national level, we know some nations on the surface seem greater or deem themselves greater than others but this is from there point of view and in the eyes of the Lord they might be either smaller or larger than what they think they are. But the tendency out of pride is more often to think that they are larger rather than smaller.
You need to keep sight on your own blessings and there is the danger of comparison traps where you can lose out on your blessings. Even if you really are small, still focus in on and give thanks for your own blessings are you are responsible for the thanksgivings for your own blessings.
When it says the idols do not walk, the contrary to this is you can walk in the blessings of the Lord, and you may not receive or be in the position to receive some of these blessings if you stay in the stand still position and not go forward in walking with the Lord.
Remembering that idols do not walk with you and by contrast you are called to walk into the blessings of the Lord and not stand away from them.
This is why idolatry in its obvious or in its less obvious forms start to taper off, nobody is in reality walking with you down that road and soon enough you will get that sense of abandonment that comes with finding yourself walking alone on roads that are littered with idols.
Remember also that for the purposes of blessings I am in the house of the Lord and as it says in the psalms specifically in psalm 84 verse 10:
Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
You can key in on this verse, seek the Lord and what he would rather have you be doing. Maybe he would rather have you in the smaller role for his glory, than the bigger role for situations that are outside of his purposes or outside his courts.
The call is to find, keep and maintain your own voice in the presence of the Lord and with the holy fear of trusting him.
The guard should be up on keeping your voice in the presence of the Lord and towards disavowing what might truly compromise and hinder that voice, which is your voice, to the Lord.
As the final verse says, we extol the Lord now and also forevermore so that relationship is to be maintained all the way through.
There is the unity of hope and praise that the "we" mentioned in the final verse of this psalm can include all nations and all peoples, united in glorious praise and trust in the living presence of the Lord now and forever more.
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