Psalms 115:1-18
1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
9 O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
12 The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.
Gordon Churchyard
There Is Only One True God
Psalms 115
Jesus said, "Pray like this: Our Father, you are in *heaven. Your name is special. You are king (over everyone). What you want to happen will happen in the earth. It will happen (in earth) as it happens in *heaven. Give us today the food that we need (each day). *Forgive us the wrong things that we have done. (Do this) because we *forgive the people that have done wrong things to us. Do not lead us into difficulties, but take us away from bad places (and ideas). (Do this) because you are the king! You are powerful! You will always be *glorious! *Amen" (Matthew 6:9-13). (*Heaven is the home of God; *forgive means excuse; glorious means "shining very much"; and amen means "we all agree".)
Psalms 115
v1 Do not give to us, *LORD, do not give to us the *glory.
(Keep) it for yourself! (Do this) because of your kind love (to us).
And (do it) because you always do what you have promised.
v2 Why should people say, ‘Where is their God?’
v3 Our God is in *heaven. He does what he wants to do.
v4 (People) make their *idols with *silver and gold.
Human hands make them!
v5 (Each *idol) has a mouth... but it cannot speak!
It has eyes... but it cannot see!
v6 It has ears... but it cannot hear!
It has a nose... but it cannot smell!
v7 It has hands... but it feels nothing!
It has feet... but it cannot walk!
Its mouth cannot make a sound!
v8 The people that make them will become like them.
Also, everyone who believes what they say (will become like them).
v9 (People of) Israel... *trust in the *LORD.
He is their *help and their *shield.
v10 People of Aaron... *trust in the *LORD.
He is their help and their *shield.
v11 Everyone that is in awe of the *LORD... *trust in the *LORD.
He is their help and their *shield.
v12 The *LORD will remember us. He will *bless us.
He will *bless the people of Israel.
He will *bless the people of Aaron.
v13 He will *bless everybody that is in awe of the *LORD.
(He will *bless them) whether they are important or not.
v14 (I pray that) the *LORD will give you more (good things).
(I pray that he will) do this to your children also.
v15 I pray that the *LORD will *bless you.
(The *LORD) made *heaven and earth.
v16 *Heaven is where the *LORD lives.
He gave the earth to the people that live there.
v17 Dead people cannot *praise the *LORD.
Neither can anyone that goes to the *Quiet Place.
v18 But we will *bless the *LORD, now and always.
*Hallelujah!
The Story of Psalms 115
We do not know who wrote Psalms 115. And we do not know when they wrote it. It was a time when there were not many *Jews. But there were a lot of enemies. Perhaps it was before the *exile. The *exile was when Assyria or Babylon took them away from their own country. Perhaps it was when they came back to their own country. We do not know.But the psalm tells people to *trust in the *LORD. This means, believe what the *LORD says, and wait until he sends you help. "He is their help" in verses 9, 10 and 11 mean "he will send you help". We learn what the *LORD says when we read the Bible.
The important thing that the psalm teaches us is this: there is only one God. All other gods are man-made, and cannot do anything to send us help.
What Psalms 115 means
In verse 1, *LORD is a special name for God. It is the *covenant name for God. A *covenant is when two people (or groups of people) agree. Here the *covenant is with God and the people of Israel. The verse says that God must keep the *glory for himself. He should not give some of it to his people. "*Glory" is a "big shining". Here it means all the good things that people say about God.In verse 2, people are saying "Where is their God?" The people are those who do not believe. They do not believe that there is a God. So they say, "Where is God?" or "What is God doing to show that he is really alive?" The answer is in verse 3. God is in *heaven... the home of God. And he is doing everything that he wants to do!
Verses 4 - 8 tell us about *idols. An *idol is a god that people make. It is not a true god. Often people make it from wood. But it cannot speak or see (verse 5). It cannot hear or smell (verse 6). It cannot walk or make any sound (verse 7). People make it from gold and silver. Silver is like gold, very valuable. People that have *idols will become like them (verse 8).
Verses 9 - 11 are about *trusting in the *LORD. To "*trust" is "to believe that the *LORD will send you help because he loves you". The people of Israel and the people of Aaron are the *Jews. But verse 11 says "everyone"... and that includes us! "In awe" means "a bit afraid of someone that you love". "Their help" in verse 9 means "the person that gives them help". And the *shield is something that stops an enemy hurting them. A *shield was something a soldier used. He held it over his body, so that it stopped things hitting him.
In verses 12 - 16 we read about the *LORD blessing people. The word "*bless" now means "do good things to". But in Bible times, it meant "have many children". So in verse 14 "the *LORD will give you more" means more children. Also, he will give more children to your children!
In verses 17 - 18 we read about "*praise" and the "Quiet Place". "*Praise" means "tell someone that they are great". So "*praise the *LORD" means "tell the *LORD that he is great". Dead people cannot *praise the *LORD, because they are in the Quiet Place. This is another name for *Sheol. The *Jews believed that you went to *Sheol when you died. You could not *praise God in *Sheol. "We will *bless the *LORD now and always" means "*Jews will always *bless the *LORD and *praise him". But we know now that we will always *praise the *LORD... if we love Jesus!
Something to do
Tell God that you think that he is the only God. And tell him that you love his son Jesus and want to obey him.Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
heaven ~ the home of God.
forgive ~ take away the results of sin. (But look in the notes on Psalm 85:2.)
sin ~ not obeying God; or what you do when you do not obey God.
forgive ~ take away the results of sin. (But look in the notes on Psalm 85:2.)
sin ~ not obeying God; or what you do when you do not obey God.
glorious ~ very, very lovely.
amen ~ we agree!
heaven ~ the home of God.
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
glory ~ something that shines very much, maybe heaven: God has glory because his righteousness shines from inside him.
heaven ~ the home of God.
righteousness ~ what you have when you are righteous.
righteous ~ very good (only God is really righteous). God says that the people who love and obey him are righteous. Sometimes we say they are "the righteous", meaning "righteous people". Look after Psalm 5 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the word "righteous".
idol ~ a false god that someone made out of wood or stone or metal.
silver ~a metal of great value, like gold.
trust ~ believe that someone (usually God in the psalms) will be kind to you.
shield ~ what a soldier holds over himself to stop things hitting him.
bless ~ say good things, or do good things, to someone.
praise ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.
hallelujah ~ say that the LORD is great. (Jah is Hebrew for LORD.)
Lord ~ a name for God; it means he has authority, or "master"; It is the word "Adonai" in Hebrew. Look also at LORD below.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. It is the covenant name of God. In Hebrew it is Yahweh or Jehovah. Look after Psalm 25 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the names of God.
lord ~ someone with authority.
LORD ~ the covenant name for God (in a covenant you agree with someone).
Hebrew ~ the language that the Jews spoke; they wrote the Psalms in Hebrew.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
Yahweh ~ the covenant name for God. Most Bibles translate it LORD with 4 capital letters. It means something like "I am" or "always alive".
Jehovah ~ how some languages say Yahweh, one of the names of God in Hebrew.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.
exile ~ away from your own country.
covenant ~ two people have agreed what each should do (here, God and his people). Look in Psalm 120 about the covenant.
glory ~ something that shines very much, maybe heaven: God has glory because his righteousness shines from inside him.
heaven ~ the home of God.
righteousness ~ what you have when you are righteous.
righteous ~ very good (only God is really righteous). God says that the people who love and obey him are righteous. Sometimes we say they are "the righteous", meaning "righteous people". Look after Psalm 5 in Book 1 of the Psalms of David for more about the word "righteous".
praise ~ to say how great someone is; or, words that say how great someone is.
Sheol ~ Jews believed that you went to Sheol when you died.
Jew ~ a person who is born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children; a person who has the faith of the Jews, called Judaism.
faith ~ belief in someone or something; in the Psalms, belief in God.