Psalms

Chapter 115

To Your Name Be the Glory

This psalm refuses all human credit and insists that glory belongs to the LORD alone because of his steadfast love and faithfulness. From there it answers the nations' taunt by contrasting the living God in heaven, who does whatever he pleases, with idols that look complete but cannot act at all, and then turns into repeated calls for Israel, the house of Aaron, and all who fear the LORD to trust the God who remembers, blesses, and gives the earth to the living for his praise.

Psalm 115 continues the Hallel by moving from God's exodus presence in Psalm 114 to a direct confession of his uniqueness over against idols. It fits Book V by combining doxology, polemic, trust, and blessing into one communal response: the LORD alone deserves glory, the makers of idols become like their dead gods, and the people of the covenant are summoned to trust the one God who actively helps and remembers them.

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Psalms 115

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vv. 1-18

To Your Name Be the Glory

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N¹ot to us, O LORD, not to us, ²Why should the nations say, ³Our God is in heaven;

⁴Their idols are silver and gold, ⁵They have mouths, but cannot speak; ⁶they have ears, but cannot hear; ⁷they have hands, but cannot feel; ⁸Those who make them become like them,

⁹O Israel, trust in the LORD! ¹⁰O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! ¹¹You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! ¹²The LORD is mindful of us; ¹³He will bless those who fear the LORD— ¹⁴May the LORD give you increase, ¹⁵May you be blessed by the LORD,

¹⁶The highest heavens belong to the LORD, ¹⁷It is not the dead who praise the LORD, ¹⁸But it is we who will bless the LORD,

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01vv. 1-18To Your Name Be the GloryThe psalm begins by denying all glory to the worshipers and giving it instead to the LORD's name because of his steadfast love and faithfulness, especially in the face of the nations' question about where Israel's God is. It then contrasts the LORD in heaven with lifeless idols, calls Israel, Aaron's house, and all who fear the LORD to trust him as their help and shield, celebrates his mindful blessing on his people, and ends by insisting that the living must bless the LORD now and forever.