Psalms 115
Big idea: The psalm's argument against idols is not that they are wrong but that they don't work, and it walks down the body listing the failures: mouths that don't speak, eyes that don't see, ears that don't hear, noses, hands, feet. Then the sentence that makes it more than mockery: those who make them will be like them — you become what you worship. Against that, three groups are called by name to trust — Israel, the house of Aaron, and you who fear Yahweh, which quietly includes anyone at all.
Psalm 115 says the dead don't praise. Psalm 116 is written by someone who nearly found out.
115:1–8 — Those who make them will be like them
The psalm opens by refusing credit twice over — not to us, not to us — and then takes up the nations' taunt as a question worth answering. The reply is an anatomy lesson: idols have every organ and none of them works. And verse 8 is the sting, and it is a claim about formation: you become like what you worship, so the makers end up as deaf as the made.
1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?” 3 But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see. 6 They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell. 7 They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
115:9–18 — We will bless Yah
Three groups are addressed in turn — Israel, the priests, and 'you who fear Yahweh', which is the widest category and probably includes non-Israelites — and each gets the identical promise. Then a division of property: the heavens are his, and the earth has been GIVEN to people. And the psalm's reason for praising now is blunt: the dead do not.
9 Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 12 Yahweh remembers 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 Yahweh, both small and great. 14 May Yahweh increase you more and more, you and your children. 15 Blessed are you by Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are Yahweh’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men. 17 The dead don’t praise Yah, nor any who go down into silence, 18 but we will bless Yah, from this time forward and forever more. Praise Yah!
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).