Psalm 115:1-6, 8, 17-18 (NIV)
Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore. Praise the Lord.
Psalm 115 continues in the collection of the Hallel psalms (Psalms 113-118) sung by the Jews during their Passover celebrations. It therefore makes up part of the hymns sung by Jesus and His disciples on the night He was betrayed and arrested and the night before His crucifixion (Mt. 26:30 plus Mk. 14:26). Of all the people who have walked the earth, surely Jesus was the one who deserved glory, yet he deflected all glory to His Father in Heaven. Do you ever keep some glory for yourself, rather than passing it on to God? I certainly have.
The more we do in the work of the Lord and the more public that work, the greater the temptation for us to think what we are doing is about us instead of being about God. We all like a compliment and it is encouraging to be told a lesson was good or a class was helpful, or some good work was amazing, but we have to remember that all we do is for the glory of God and not our own. Jesus said for us to let our lights shine but he also said it is to be to the praise of our Father in heaven:
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
In a world that mock us and says, “Where is your God,” it is important to remember that those outside the faith are worshippers as well, bowing down to the gods of their own making—gods that “have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see” (v.5). Sadly, “Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them” (v. 8). In short, they will lifeless. Spiritually bankrupt. Dead in their sin. It is no laughing matter and one that deserves our attention through prayer, outreach, and the proclamation of the Gospel. This is another reason why we must glorify God—worship and praise Him—in all that we say, think, and do. Our praises are a witness to His existence, and that is a testimony the walking dead need to hear.
“It is not the dead who praise the Lord…it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore” (v. 17a,18a). We should look to the heroes of the faith for inspiration and encouragement, but we should not rely on their days gone by to lift up the Name that is Above Every Name. As Spurgeon rightly observed:
“The tomb sends forth no voice; from moldering bones and flesh consuming worms there arises no sound of gospel ministry nor of gracious song. One by one the singers in the consecrated choir of saints steal away from us, and we miss their music. Thank God, they have gone above to swell the harmonies of the skies, but as far as we are concerned, we have need to sing all the more earnestly because so many songsters have left our choirs. We who are still living will take care that the praises of God shall not fail among the sons of men. Our afflictions and depressions of spirit shall not cause us to suspend our praises; neither shall old age, and increasing infirmities damp the celestial fires, nay, nor shall even death itself cause us to cease from the delightful occupation. The spiritually dead cannot praise God, but the life within us constrains us to do so. The ungodly may abide in silence, but we will lift up our voices to the praise of Jehovah.”
May we lift up our voices and bring Him glory, even this very day!
