(About Religion)
Psalm 115
Opening: Whats up, everybody! Welcome to our collection of research on the Egyptian Hallel, which is the title given to Psalm 113 by means of 118. Final week we checked out Psalm 114, and at the moment we’re going to deal with Psalm 115. So when you’re capable of entry your Bible, flip there with me. As you do, I wish to inform you that after a number of years we now have copies of one among my earliest books—On This Day in Christian Historical past. This can be a distinctive day by day devotional that tells fascinating tales from Christian historical past for on daily basis of the 12 months. Most individuals aren’t going to learn a multivolume collection on the historical past of the church, however we will study among the tales in one-day doses. Study concerning the heroes of the Christian story, together with a couple of of the villains. Now priced at solely 12.99 on the bookstore on my web site, Robertjmorgan.com.
Let’s start at the moment by studying the Scripture for our examine—Psalm 115.
Scripture
To not us, Lord, to not us
however to your title be the glory,
due to your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
“The place is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does no matter pleases him.
4 However their idols are silver and gold,
made by human fingers.
5 They’ve mouths, however can not communicate,
eyes, however can not see.
6 They’ve ears, however can not hear,
noses, however can not odor.
7 They’ve fingers, however can not really feel,
toes, however can not stroll,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those that make them might be like them,
and so will all who belief in them.
9 All you Israelites, belief within the Lord—
he’s their assist and defend.
10 Home of Aaron, belief within the Lord—
he’s their assist and defend.
11 You who worry him, belief within the Lord—
he’s their assist and defend.
12 The Lord remembers us and can bless us:
He’ll bless his folks Israel,
he’ll bless the home of Aaron,
13 he’ll bless those that worry the Lord—
small and nice alike.
14 Might the Lord trigger you to flourish,
each you and your kids.
15 Might you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The very best heavens belong to the Lord,
however the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It’s not the lifeless who reward the Lord,
those that go all the way down to the place of silence;
18 it’s we who extol the Lord,
each now and forevermore.
Reward the Lord.
Overview:
Let’s take a second to evaluation, after which I’ll present you what I realized from Christopher Ash, a robust British expositor who’s now author in residence at Tyndale Home in Cambridge, in England. Dr. Ash has develop into my favourite British expositor, and after I listened to his good sermon on Psalm 115, I spotted I had missed one thing very important.
In accordance with each commentary and custom I can discover, the six Psalms that start with Psalm 113 and undergo Psalm 118 had been set to music and sung on the main Jewish festivals, and in addition by households on the annual Passover meal, which commemorated the Exodus of Israel from Egypt. They had been known as the Hallel Psalms as a result of the primary phrase of Psalm 113 is Hallel, or Reward. That is the foundation of the phrase Hallelujah. They’re known as the Egyptian Hallel as a result of they deal with Israel’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery, particularly Psalm 114.
Simply as we sing Christmas carols throughout December, Jewish households sang these six hymns yearly across the Passover Desk. So these are presumably the final songs Jesus sang. The Gospels inform us that on the final night time of His pure life, Jesus met with His disciples in an Higher Room someplace in Jerusalem for the Passover meal. There on the desk was the Lamb, together with the bitter herbs and the unleavened bread. The stone room was lighted by flaming lamps, and there on this mystic night time the Lord Jesus noticed Passover with His closest associates, plus one traitor.
What’s so fascinating to me is that these six songs anticipate the Gospel story. Psalm 113 alludes to the incarnation–the act of God humbling Himself to develop into a person. Psalm 114 is about redemption, how the Lord redeems us from slavery and involves dwell amongst us. Now, if God did develop into human to dwell amongst us and ship us from our sins, how will we partake in that? What do we’ve got to do? How will we receive this? How will we apprehend it? How will we procure it?
It’s by religion, and by religion alone. We merely belief the Lord—and that’s the theme of Psalm 115. If Psalm 113 alludes to the Incarnation and Psalm 114 to redemption, then Psalm 115 tells us that our function is to show from sin and obtain this present by religion.
What I didn’t see in Psalm 115 is the significance of verse 2, so let’s begin there: Why do the nations, “The place is their God?”
This Psalm is more than likely post-exilic. What does that imply? The nation of Judah and its capital of Jerusalem grew to become so corrupt that God allowed the Babylonian Empire to invade and defeat them in 587 BC. The exiles had been deported to Babylon, and we name that the Jewish exile. Psalm 115 is within the final of the 5 divisions of the Psalms. These had been compiled very late, nearly definitely after the exile, after that they had been taken out of the land. And possibly parts of this final a part of the Psalms—from Psalm 107 to 150—had been written for the remnant of Jews who had returned from exile and had begun to repopulate the land.
Psalm 107 begins, “Give due to the Lord, for he’s good; his love endures without end. Let the redeemed of the Lord inform their story—these he redeemed from the hand of the foe, these he gathered from the lands, from the east and west and north and south….”
This final portion of the Psalms had been very doubtless written and compiled by Ezra, or these round him. However regardless that a remnant of Jews had been again within the land, issues had been nonetheless harsh. They had been beneath the hegemony of different nations, they usually had been surrounded by enemies. They not had a king. They’d a tiny little bit of territory, however nothing just like the previous. They had been capable of lastly rebuild their temple, however it appeared reasonably pathetic when in comparison with that of Solomon.
So their enemies ridiculed them and stated, “The place is your God now, Judah? The place is the God you stated would assist you to?”
Christopher Ash stated that Psalm 115 was written for the Jews to sing at any time when they encountered that query. And so they had been nonetheless singing it when Jesus arrived on the scene and the nation of Israel was nonetheless occupied by international troops.
And generally we’ve got the same query. “The place is God after I want Him? If God actually loves me, what did this occur? Is there actually a God, and in that case, the place is He? The place is God when dangerous issues occur? The place is our God?”
1. Give God the Glory (Verse 1)
First, let’s give God all of the glory. In different phrases, “Lord, the nations are asking the place You’re. They see our misery and are mocking us. Lord, please come to our assist; please assist us; please information us—however not as a result of we’re worthy of it. No, assist us for Your individual glory!”
This jogs my memory of one thing I wrote in my e-book, The Pink Sea Guidelines. After we’re in a painful place in life, our first query shouldn’t be, “Lord, how did I get into this mess and the way can I get out.” The primary query ought to be, “Lord, how can You be glorified by means of my circumstances?”
Verse 1 additionally jogs my memory of Ephesians 2:8 and 9: For it’s by grace you’ve been saved, by means of religion—and this isn’t from yourselves, it’s the present of God—not of works, in order that nobody can boast.
When an individual decides to belief Jesus Christ for salvation or to search out assurance of salvation, they achieve this on the premise of the love and faithfulness of God; not on the premise of something they will glory in. We are saying, “Lord, not on the premise of my very own goodness, however on the premise of your love and faithfulness, save me for Your glory.”
A couple of months in the past, a analysis agency in Nice Britain requested folks in the event that they believed there was any type of life in any respect after loss of life. About half of all British adults consider that. Then they requested that half what was essential to get to heaven. Eighty-four p.c (84%) of those that consider in Heaven stated that one should stay a superb life and be a superb individual as a way to go to Heaven.
However that’s not the reply the Bible offers. The Bible tells us that none of us could be ok to get to Heaven on our personal. The rationale has to do with the very good perfections of all of the attributes and qualities of the God who’s everlasting within the Heavens. He’s absolute in His perfection and stainless in His glory. He’s so pure and holy that nothing with a hint of evil can ever exist in His presence.
And everyone knows that even the most effective individual on earth is imperfect not directly, in some ways. Jeremiah 19:9 says, “The guts is deceitful above all issues and desperately depraved.” That’s why the right God grew to become human, to stay a sinless life and to supply His righteous life for all of us. We are able to solely go to Heaven on the premise of what He has accomplished for us.
So to not us, Lord, to not us, however to your title be the glory, due to your love and faithfulness.
2. Don’t Belief Any Different “Gods” (Verses 2-8)
In verses 2 by means of 8, the author tells us that the people who find themselves asking the place our God is are the very ones who’re silly sufficient to be worshipping gods they themselves have made.
Why do the nations say, “The place is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does no matter pleases him. However their idols are silver and gold, made by human fingers. They’ve mouths, however can not communicate, eyes, however can not see. They’ve ears, however can not hear, noses, however can not odor. They’ve fingers, however can not really feel, toes, however can not stroll, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
The very people who find themselves ridiculing our God are those who’re worshipping gods that can’t communicate or see or hear or odor or really feel or stroll or discuss. I’ll inform you the place our God is! Our God is in Heaven and He does no matter pleases Him. Your gods are right here on earth they usually can not do something. They’re idols.
In biblical instances in addition to in components of the world at the moment, folks nonetheless observe this sort of idolatry, wherein they make pictures of perceived gods after which worship the picture they’ve made. I’ve been in lots of components of the world wherein I’ve seen folks bowing all the way down to idols. Essentially the most beautiful place was the Golden Pagoda in Yangon, Myanmar. There’s no option to describe it. It’s like a metropolis of gold with a tall golden pagoda within the center, and in all places you look individuals are providing items and sacrifices and choices related to their Buddhist beliefs.
However the biblical idea of idolatry is broader than worshipping pictures and statutes. An idol is one thing in your life that’s extra essential than it ought to be.
Christianity is just not an additive to your life, like pouring a bottle of some high-performance liquid into your automobile’s gasoline tank. It’s not a complement. You possibly can’t simply say, “Properly, perhaps we want some inspiration or morality in our lives, so let’s go to church extra usually.”
The Bible says that in all issues, Christ will need to have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18). You need to carry each space of life beneath His governing authority. Something that isn’t beneath His governing authority—something in your life that’s extra essential than it ought to be, extra essential than Him—is an idol.
So you need to ask your self, “Is there something in my life that’s extra essential than it ought to be?”
The rationale that is essential is acknowledged within the subsequent verse—Psalm 115:8: Those that make them (idols) might be like them, and so will all who belief in them.
This can be a precept that I realized from studying A. W. Tozer’s e-book, The Data of the Holy. This is likely one of the prime ten books on my library cabinets. Chapter 1 is entitled, “Why We Should Suppose Rightly About God.” I wish to learn two sentences to you.
Tozer stated, “What comes into our minds after we take into consideration God is an important factor about us…. We have a tendency by a secret regulation of the soul to maneuver towards our psychological picture of God.”
In case your god is intercourse, you’ll develop into increasingly promiscuous. In case your god is cash, you’ll develop into increasingly materialistic. In case your god is energy, you’ll develop into increasingly ruthless. We’re reworked into no matter our gods dictate.
In case your God is the Lord of the Bible, you’ll develop into increasingly godly.
Justin Brierley wrote, “I consider we’re all made to worship. That intuition runs so deep inside us that, if we don’t worship God, we are going to find yourself worshipping one thing else as an alternative. The article of individuals’s worship is no matter preeminent factor they construct their lives round. There are the same old glamorous contenders — cash, intercourse, energy. And the much less apparent idols too — profession, household, health. Not that any of these items are dangerous in themselves, however, as Tim Keller says, idolatry normally includes ‘turning a superb factor into an final factor.’”
3. Place Your Religion within the Lord and in Him Solely (Verses Sep 11)
Let’s go on to the following a part of Psalm 115. Verses 9 by means of 11 inform us to place our religion within the Lord and in Him alone: All you Israelites, belief within the Lord—he’s their assist and defend. Home of Aaron, belief within the Lord—he’s their assist and defend. You who worry him, belief within the Lord—he’s their assist and defend.
Some students consider this was antiphonal. That’s, if this was accomplished within the Higher Room, half the lads would sing the primary line, and the opposite would sing the second line. They’d commute. However discover we’re informed thrice to belief within the Lord. Verse 8 stated, Those that make (idols) might be like them, and so will all who belief in them.
So don’t do this. As an alternative, put your belief within the Lord, Israelites, the folks of God. Put your belief within the Lord, all of the descendants of Aaron—the worship leaders. Put your belief within the Lord everybody, all who worry Him. He’s our assist. He’s a defend.
Should you want assist in any space of your life proper now, belief within the Lord. Belief Him! Should you want safety, security, a defend, belief in Him. Jesus stated, “Place confidence in God” (Mark 11:22).
That is the first human response to God’s grace. We merely consider that He has accomplished issues for us that we don’t deserve and might by no means earn, and so we obtain it by religion.
The Bible says, “The righteous shall stay by religion…. One is justified by religion…. By religion we’ve got peace with God by means of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Via Him we’ve got additionally obtained entry by religion into this grace wherein we stand…. Stand agency within the religion…. Be sound within the religion…. established within the religion…. For we stroll by religion, not by sight…. Via the Spirit, by religion, we eagerly look ahead to the hope of righteousness…. Allow us to draw close to with a real coronary heart in full assurance of religion…. (for) with out religion it’s inconceivable to please Him… And that is the victory that has overcome the world—even our religion!” (Romans 1:17; 3:28; 5:1-2; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Titus 1:13; Colossians 2:7; 2 Corinthians 5:7; Galatians 5:5; Hebrews 10:22; Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 5:4).
I’ll provide you with a really insufficient illustration. I noticed a video on the information the opposite day of a person who had fallen from a climbing path close to San Francisco. The person was clinging to the aspect of a cliff hardly capable of hold on. Far beneath him had been treacherous rocks and rugged shoreline. The California Freeway Patrol despatched one among their helicopters, and a crew member was lowered by a cable to seize maintain of the person. Think about being that man in misery. He has fallen. He’s clinging to a cliff however about to fall to his loss of life. He hears a helicopter hovering above him and an emergency responder is descending on a cable. The rescuer comes near him and shouts, “Seize maintain of me!”
Now the person has to decide. Can he climb up the hill on his personal? Can he survive falling onto the rocks under? Can he leap up and seize the cable and climb up it hand over hand? No. His solely salvation will depend on trusting the one who has lowered himself to his stage and has come to avoid wasting him. “Belief me,” shouts the person. “Put your arms round me. I’ve obtained you. You’ve got to position your religion within the helicopter. You’ve obtained to position your religion within the crew. You’ve obtained to position your religion within the cable. And also you’ve obtained to position your religion in me.”
The one option to be saved, to be rescued, is by trusting the One who got here down from Heaven, dangling by the cable of affection, and who’s reaching out His fingers to you.
4. Rejoice in God’s Blessings (Verses 12-18)
The final a part of Psalm 115 tells about all of the blessings that come into our lives after we do that. Take a look at verses 12 by means of 18: The Lord remembers us and can bless us: He’ll bless his folks Israel, he’ll bless the home of Aaron, he’ll bless those that worry the Lord—small and nice alike.
And now, a benediction: Might the Lord trigger you to flourish, each you and your kids. Might you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Verse 16 could be very curious: The very best heavens belong to the Lord, however the earth he has given to mankind. What does that imply? Properly, the earlier verse stated the Lord is the Maker of heaven and earth. Earth is the place we stay, and Heaven is the place He lives. However the God who lives in Heaven is ready to bless His individuals who stay on this earth.
The subsequent verse speaks about our everlasting life—how the Maker of Heaven and Earth will give us the fun of Heaven without end. Verse 17 says, “It’s not the lifeless who reward the Lord, those that go down the place of silence.”
No, “It’s we who extol the Lord, each now and forevermore.” Perpetually and ever. We might be praising the Lord without end in His Heaven as a result of He has rescued us in a approach that merely required us to belief Him and to position Him first in our lives.
5. Reward the Lord (Verse 18)
So, says the final phrase: “Reward the Lord!” It appears to me that in an Outdated Testomony approach, this Psalm teaches us Ephesians 2:8 and 9, that we’re saved by grace by means of religion, and that not of ourselves in order that nobody can boast. It begins by saying, “We can not save ourselves. To not us, Lord, to not us, however to your title be the glory due to your love and faithfulness.”
Then it warns us in opposition to any substitute for that. We can’t be saved by our personal idols, by these issues that develop into extra essential than they need to be. No, we will solely be saved by trusting within the Lord. After we do this, He blesses us on earth, and we are going to reward Him each now and forevermore, all through the limitless years of eternity.
That is the plan of salvation, hidden because it had been, interwoven because it had been, into the verses of Psalm 115. Psalm 113 speaks of our Lord’s entry into earth. Psalm 114 speaks of His work of redemption. And Psalm 115 tells us this salvation is obtainable by grace on the premise of religion. And we will belief Him, even when others doubt and belittle Him!
When the world asks us, “The place is your God,” we’ve got a solution. He’s in Heaven and He does what pleases Him, and what pleases Him is to bless His folks What pleases Him is to bless me even when folks round me are doubting His goodness and greatness.
So all of you, belief within the Lord—
he’s our assist and defend;
Those that want Him, belief within the Lord—
he’s your assist and defend.
You who worry him, belief within the Lord—
he’s our assist and defend.The Lord remembers us and can bless us:
He’ll bless his folks Israel,
