Glory to the Name

Psalm 115 begins with a perfect prayer, an expression of humility that should be the start of any study or any work undertaken in the Lord’s service:  “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” (verse 1)

Perfect.  Whatever is going to follow, it is begun with the absolutely right attitude.

The next verse, at first glance, might seem not to follow.  The psalmist asks, “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ ” (verse 2)  We have to go on to the fourth verse to understand this:  “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.”  And then he emphasizes that those idols have non-functioning mouths, eyes, ears, etc.  In other words, those folks have something tangible they call their god; they look at Israel and say, “Where’s your god?  You don’t even have one, do you?”  Because they completely mistake the nature of the living God.  Their gods are just wood or stone or metal—unseeing, unspeaking, lifeless.  They can’t get over the absence of a tangible “god”.

Now let’s go back and pick up verse 3 in conjunction with verse 2.  “Why should the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’ Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”  In other words, just because you don’t see an idol, doesn’t mean we don’t have a God.  And in fact, our God acts, He does.  The gods of the nations are limited, but our God is not!  He does whatever He pleases.

Now circle back to the opening again.  “Not to us, but to your name give glory.”  In other words, “These others don’t get it, that we have an invisible but living God—but we’re not seeking our vindication for believing in you, all we want is you to be glorified.”

The psalmist’s discussion to this point then leads to a call to faith and trust.  “O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield… You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.” (verses 9-11)

If we think of ourselves as spiritual Israel (and we better—see for example Romans 4), then this call is addressed to us.

There’s more to this psalm, which I’ll leave you to think about on your own.  Like all poetry, the poetry of the Psalms has large measures of meaning packed into few words. Here’s how I unpack these first eleven verses.

We don’t worship statues.  Our God can’t be seen, but that is no reason to think we don’t have a God.  Those who trust in statues make themselves exactly like those statues—unseeing, unthinking, inactive.  If the Lord is your God, then trust Him!  He’s your help and shield—and He is active, He is alive, He does.  And we pray that His name be glorified—because He is loving, and true, and faithful.  He is our help and our shield.

Love, Paul