Psalm 115: Christ, Mockers and Eternal Life

Christ, Mockers and Eternal Life

Psalm 115

Establish the need: Have you ever hear people mock with “Where, now, is their God?”

 

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your [a]truth. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; 7 [b]They have hands, but they cannot feel; [c]They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them [d]will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who [e]fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who [f]fear the Lord, The small together with the great. 14 May the Lord give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise [g]the Lord, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless [h]the Lord From this time forth and forever. Praise [j]the Lord!

 

Purpose: When we see others mock where is God we must continue to trust in God for two reasons:

• Trust God because He is gloriously at work (v.1-8)
• Trust God because He remembers us (v.9-18)

Reminder:

• The last twenty four hours Jesus sang according to Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26.[1]
• This would have been Psalms 113-118.
• That is because the Jews sang Psalms 113-118 during the Passover.
• Psalms 113-118 was called the “Hallel” Psalms.[2]
• The Jews sang Psalm 113-114 before the Passover meal and afterwards they sang Psalm 115-118.[3]
  These songs would have been the Scriptures that Jesus have thought about as He was the worship leader for the Passover meal that was His Last Supper with His followers before He would be crucified the next day.
• Yet these would minister to Him and therefore also minister to us!

 

Trust God because He is gloriously at work (1-8)

1. Passage: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?” 3 But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; 6 They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; 7 They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. 8 Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.”
2. Proof
   1. Verse 3 summarizes verses 1-8[4]: “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases” (v.3)
   2. God’s people wants God to be glorified in His display of “lovingkindness” and “truth” : “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.” (v.1)
      1. The focus and the giving of glory should be upon God, not upon us.[5]
      2. In the Hebrew “not us” is the first two words of the Psalm and placed there for emphasis on the denial that somehow things are about us.[6]
      3. What does this have to do with trusting in God? We don’t think of it usually but there’s a relationship of what we trust in will be the thing we glorify.[7]
         1. If you are trusting in yourself you will want glory for yourself
         2. But if you trust God you will want Him to be glorified.
   3. The problem: “Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is their God?”” (v.2)
      1. Nations would mean nonbelievers who are not Jewish.
      2. They would believe in many gods.
      3. Yet the God of the Bible is not seen.
   4. The answer summarized: “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.” (v.3)
   5. The contrast (v.4-7)
      1. The gods can be seen but they can’t do things.
      2. Yet verse 4 exposes what idols are made of
         1. “Their idols are silver and gold,” shows the value of these gods are based upon the materials the idolater decide to make it out of.
         2. No matter the precious metal notice they are the “work of man’s hand” and Spurgeon in speaking about this verse said “How can a man call that a “god”, which did not make him, but which he himself made?”[8]
      3. Notice how comprehensive is the Psalm’s description of the idol’s “organs; Read 5-7.
         1. The first mention of organ in 5 is “mouths” and the last word of v. 7 is ‘throats” and wraps the other “organs” to emphasize that idols can’t not speak,
      4. Irony: gods whom you can see but can’t do anything but the God whom you cannot see is able to things!
   6. The result for idol worshippers: “Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them” (v.8)
      1. In other words they are made dumb.[9]
      2. But what about the result for those who are believers of the living God? Next section in the Psalm would give us the result of those who trust in God.
   7. For Jesus singing at the last Supper this would have meant a lot to Him.
      1. Consistent with the theme of Psalm 115:1 Jesus was about the glory about God the Father: Matthew 26:39.[10]
      2. Jesus reading and singing this Psalm about mockers would Himself face mockers on the Cross: Matthew 27:39-44.
      3. Jesus going to the Cross would ask the question where is God (the Father); yet He knew God the Father was working even when others can’t see Him, a theme in this Psalm’ God’s work is to be interprted in light of Messianic Prophecies: Isaiah 53:10. [11]
3. Practice
   1. While we can’t see God don’t take that to mean He is not alive and working!
   2. Yet consider the one time that God made Himself visible to a lot of people Jesus who is God Incarnate was rejected by some people because it didn’t fit their idea of God/Savior/Messiah; do we have the same problem too? What we need is to be biblical and not going by our feeling, gut, etc., of what God is like!

 

 

Trust God because He remembers us (9-18)

1. Passage: “9 O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 12 The Lord has been mindful of us; He 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, The small together with the great. 14 May the Lord give you increase, You and your children. 15 May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord!”
2. Proof
   1. Call to trust God: “O Israel, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; He is their help and their shield.” (v.9-11)
      1. Notice three times it says “trust in the Lord” in all three verses.
      2. Three different groups are called to trust in the Lord:
         1. “O Israel” (9)
         2. “O house of Aaron” (10)
         3. But it is not just an ethnic group, it is “You who fear the Lord” (11)
      3. Three times also each verse gives the reason why people must trust in God: “He is their help and their shield”
   2. Summary: God remembers us and bless us: “The Lord has been mindful of us; He 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, The small together with the great” (v.12-13)
      1. When it says “The Lord has been mindful of us” in verse 12 that would be translated “The Lord has remembered us.”
      2. Three different groups are blessed, and it’s the same three group who were earlier called to trust in the Lord:
         1. “O Israel” (12)
         2. “O house of Aaron” (12)
         3. But it is not just an ethnic group, it is “You who fear the Lord” (13)
   3. Petition of increase: “May you be blessed of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth” (v.14)
   4. Blessing God back: “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the sons of men (v.15)
   5. Resurrection hope: “The dead do not praise the Lord, Nor do any who go down into silence; 18 But as for us, we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord!” (v.17-18)
      1. Verse 17 states that the dead will not praise the Lord if after death is silence.
      2. Verse 18 states a contrast.
      3. Verse 18 states for believers in the Living God: “we will bless the Lord From this time forth and forever”= Which means there’s hope of eternal life!
   6. For Jesus singing at the last Supper this would have meant a lot to Him.
      1. Recall the key verse in this section is verse 9 about God remember; remember the thief asking Jesus to remember Him: Luke 23:42-43.[12]
      2. Jesus in answering the thief states hope of paradise for the man and Jesus Himself in Luke 23:43.[13] There is life after death as the Psalm comforts believers!
      3. Isn’t it amazing that even a mocker of Christ on the Cross and serious criminal can be saved?
      4. A big theme in this Psalm is the topic of praising the Lord. Christ who read and sang this Psalm before He died would have been encouraged to know His work on the Cross and Resurrection would dramatically increase praises to God!
3. Practice
   1. Are you living to praise God?
   2. Do you thank God for the possibility of life after death?
   3. Have you trusted in Christ for salvation?

 

[1] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 3-4.

[2] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_113.pdf.

[3] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_113.pdf.

[4] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 78.

[5] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_115.pdf.

[6] Source: https://drbarrick.org/files/studynotes/Psalms/Ps_115.pdf.

[7] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 72-73.

[8] Source: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/spe/psalms-115.html.

[9] Source: https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/spe/psalms-115.html.

[10] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 70.

[11] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 70.

[12] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 79.

[13] Phillip Ross, Anthems for A Dying Lamb, (Ross-shire, Scotland: Christian Focus), 80.