Psalms 115

1 ¹Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, ²for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

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

3 ⁴Our God is in the heavens; ⁵he does all that he pleases.

4 ⁶Their idols are silver and gold, ⁷the work of human hands.

5 They have mouths, ⁸but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.

6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.

7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.

8 ⁹Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

9 O ¹⁰Israel,^[a]11trust in the LORD! He is their ¹²help and their shield.

10 O ¹³house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and ¹⁴their shield.

11 You ¹⁵who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

12 The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us; he will bless ¹⁶the house of Israel; he will bless ¹⁷the house of Aaron;

13 he will ¹⁸bless those who fear the LORD, ¹⁹both the small and the great.

14 May the LORD ²⁰give you increase, you and your children!

15 May ²¹you be blessed by the LORD, ²²who made heaven and earth!

16 The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man.

17 ²³The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into ²⁴silence.

18 But ²⁵we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore. ²⁶Praise the LORD!

Psalms 115 Commentary

Chapter 115

Glory to be ascribed to God. (1-8) by trusting in him and praising him. (9-18)

Verses 1-8 Let no opinion of our own merits have any place in our prayers or in our praises. All the good we do, is done by the power of his grace; and all the good we have, is the gift of his mere mercy, and he must have all the praise. Are we in pursuit of any mercy, and wrestling with God for it, we must take encouragement in prayer from God only. Lord, do so for us; not that we may have the credit and comfort of it, but that they mercy and truth may have the glory of it. The heathen gods are senseless things. They are the works of men's hands: the painter, the carver, the statuary, can put no life into them, therefore no sense. The psalmist hence shows the folly of the worshippers of idols.

Verses 9-18 It is folly to trust in dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help and a shield to those that trust in him. Wherever there is right fear of God, there may be cheerful faith in him; those who reverence his word, may rely upon it. He is ever found faithful. The greatest need his blessing, and it shall not be denied to the meanest that fear him. God's blessing gives an increase, especially in spiritual blessings. And the Lord is to be praised: his goodness is large, for he has given the earth to the children of men for their use. The souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burdens of the flesh, are still praising him; but the dead body cannot praise God: death puts an end to our glorifying him in this world of trial and conflict. Others are dead, and an end is thereby put to their service, therefore we will seek to do the more for God. We will not only do it ourselves, but will engage others to do it; to praise him when we are gone. Lord, thou art the only object for faith and love. Help us to praise thee while living and when dying, that thy name may be the first and last upon our lips: and let the sweet savour of thy name refresh our souls for ever.

Cross References

• 1. [Isaiah 48:11; Ezekiel 36:22; Daniel 9:18, 19]
• 2. See Psalms 36:5
• 3. [Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:13, 14]; See Psalms 42:3
• 4. See Psalms 11:4
• 5. Psalms 135:6; Daniel 4:35
• 6. For ver. 4-8, see Psalms 135:15-18
• 7. Deuteronomy 4:28; 2 Kings 19:18; Isaiah 37:19; Acts 19:26; See Isaiah 44:10-20; Jeremiah 10:3-5
• 8. [Isaiah 46:7; Habakkuk 2:18]
• 9. [Isaiah 44:9]
• 10. [Psalms 118:2-4; Psalms 135:19, 20]
• 11. Psalms 37:3; Psalms 62:8
• 12. Psalms 33:20
• 13. [See ver. 9 above]
• 14. See Psalms 3:3
• 15. Psalms 22:23; Psalms 103:11, 13, 17
• 16. [Psalms 118:2-4; Psalms 135:19, 20]
• 17. [Psalms 118:2-4; Psalms 135:19, 20]
• 18. See Psalms 112:1
• 19. Jeremiah 16:6; Jeremiah 31:34
• 20. Deuteronomy 1:11
• 21. See Ruth 2:20
• 22. Psalms 121:2; Psalms 124:8; Psalms 134:3; Psalms 146:6; Acts 14:15; Revelation 14:7; [Genesis 1:1; Genesis 14:19; Jeremiah 10:11]
• 23. See Psalms 6:5
• 24. See Psalms 31:17
• 25. Psalms 113:2
• 26. See Psalms 104:35

Footnotes

• [a]. Masoretic Text; many Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint, Syriac O house of Israel

Chapter Summary

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.