Psalm 115

¹ Not to us, O LORD, not to us
       but to your name be the glory,
       because of your love and faithfulness.

² Why do the nations say,
       “Where is their God?”

³ Our God is in heaven;
       he does whatever pleases him.

⁴ But their idols are silver and gold,
       made by the hands of men.

⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
       eyes, but they cannot see;

⁶ they have ears, but cannot hear,
       noses, but they cannot smell;

⁷ they have hands, but cannot feel,
       feet, but they cannot walk;
       nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
       and so will all who trust in them.

⁹ O house of Israel, trust in the LORD—
       he is their help and shield.

¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD—
       he is their help and shield.

¹¹ You who fear him, trust in the LORD—
       he is their help and shield.

¹² The LORD remembers us and will bless us:
       He will bless the house of Israel,
       he will bless the house of Aaron,

¹³ he will bless those who fear the LORD—
       small and great alike.

¹⁴ May the LORD make you increase,
       both you and your children.

¹⁵ May you be blessed by the LORD,
       the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The highest heavens belong to the LORD,
       but the earth he has given to man.

¹⁷ It is not the dead who praise the LORD,;
       those who go down to silence;

¹⁸ it is we who extol the LORD,
       both now and forevermore.
       Praise the LORD.

Ah, you say, this looks familiar. 

I did do psalm 115 before, in April, actually.  But I never said I was finished with it- AND I’m not.

This is one of my very favorite psalms- mainly because of the line I quoted in the title- “Our God is is heaven; he does whatever pleases him.”

God is.  He just is.  He didn’t become God because of a contest or special abilities, He wasn’t appointed or raised up through the ranks.  His followers didn’t build a religion around Him and create legends and stories to underline His godliness.

He told Moses His name.  ” I am that I am.”  I am. 

He created the nation of Israel to proclaim His name and promote His plan for salvation to mankind.

He sent His Son to make reparation for the betrayal and death of sin.

And He continues to be.

We call that immutable.  Unchanging.

People of faith believe in Him.  We are engaged by faith- trusting in things that we do not see- following God because there is no other place to go except to Him.

People who do not believe in God still need to believe in something- so they make gods in their own image.  The psalm refers to gold and silver, but they also make people into gods and follow after them- gods of sports or of movie make believe or of politics.  And they are always disappointed when their gods are selfish and flawed.  When these gods do whatever they please, they follow a selfish path that leads to disillusion and destruction, and they are either pulled from their thrones or they just topple over from decay.  They may be able to pull off the illusion for a while, but in the long view of history, they are shown up as frauds.  They become recognizable as  men not gods.  And many want not to forgive them .

But our God is a God of love and help and blessing.  And we need to be forgiven because of His holiness and our fallen state.  -“He is their help and shield”  and “he will bless those who fear the Lord- small and great alike.”

When our God “does whatever pleases him” , he blesses his people.

It pleases Him to bless us.

That comforts my soul.