Psalms 115 · ESV Study Bible

To Your Name Give Glory

PSALM 115 [†] a Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,

b for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

2[†] Why should the nations say,

c “Where is their God?”

3[†] d Our God is in the heavens;

e he does all that he pleases.

4[†] f Their idols are silver and gold,

g the work of human hands.

5 They have mouths, h but do not speak;

eyes, but do not see.

6 They have ears, but do not hear;

noses, but do not smell.

7 They have hands, but do not feel;

feet, but do not walk;

and they do not make a sound in their throat.

8 i Those who make them become like them;

so do all who trust in them.

9[†] O j Israel, [1] k trust in the LORD!

He is their l help and their shield.

10[†] O j house of Aaron, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and m their shield.

11[†] You n who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!

He is their help and their shield.

12[†] The LORD has remembered us; he will bless us;

he will bless o the house of Israel;

he will bless o the house of Aaron;

13 he will p bless those who fear the LORD,

q both the small and the great.

14[†] May the LORD r give you increase,

you and your children!

15 May s you be blessed by the LORD,

t who made heaven and earth!

16[†] The heavens are the LORD’s heavens,

but the earth he has given to the children of man.

17[†] u The dead do not praise the LORD,

nor do any who go down into v silence.

18 But w we will bless the LORD

from this time forth and forevermore.

x Praise the LORD!

PSALM—NOTE ON 115:11 You who fear the LORD. By the time of the NT, Gentiles who adhered to the synagogue were called “God-fearers” (Acts 10:2; 13:16). Although the OT expected that Gentiles would come to “fear the LORD” (cf. 1 Kings 8:43), there is no evidence from either the OT or the Apocrypha (intertestamental books) that this term had taken on its specialized sense early enough for the psalm to use it. The term describes Israel as a community bound to the Lord by covenant, and perhaps especially designates those members with true piety. At the same time, the term is wide enough to include all who worship the Lord—even if they are neither from the house of Aaron nor from ethnic Israel—and once Gentiles in the Greco-Roman world began attending synagogue, they could see themselves addressed here.

PSALM—NOTE ON 115:10 The house of Aaron was the specific family within the tribe of Levi that supplied the priests (Ex. 28:1; Num. 16:8–11).

PSALM—NOTE ON 115:1–8 Only One God Deserves Praise. This section develops the idea that only the Lord deserves glory (i.e., honor): first, because of his steadfast love and faithfulness (cf. Ex. 34:6); and second, because he is in the heavens (in a position of rule over all, cf. Ps. 113:4–5), and in sovereign power he does all that he pleases (cf. 135:6; Isa. 46:10), unlike the gods that the Gentiles worship (Ps. 115:4–8).

PSALM—NOTE ON 115:17 The dead do not praise the LORD. See notes on 6:5 and 88:10–12.

PSALM—NOTE ON Psalm 115. This is a hymn urging God’s people to trust and worship the Lord alone, by reminding them that he alone is worthy of their deepest loyalty. In the background lurks the temptation to turn to the gods worshiped in other nations, and the congregation must grasp how hopeless it is to serve such deities. Some scholars suppose that the Gentiles’ taunt, “Where is their God?” (v. 2), and the description of useless idols (vv. 4–8) is evidence that the psalm arose after the exile, when Israel had close exposure to such taunts and temptations. And some have taken the expression, “you who fear the LORD” (vv. 11, 13), to address Gentiles who worship the Lord (cf. Acts 10:2; 13:16), which began to be a notable feature of Jewish life in the Greek period (i.e., after 330 B.C.). None of these arguments is decisive, however: as the comments show, the taunts and temptations existed at all periods, and the expression “fearing the Lord” readily applies to any of the faithful in Israel at any time. Nevertheless, if the psalm originated before the exile, it certainly took on a renewed relevance in the postexilic period; and the Gentiles attending the synagogue might see themselves included among those who fear the Lord, the true God. Indeed, Christians can sing this psalm for the same purpose of fortifying their loyalty to, and confidence in, the true God.

PSALM—NOTE ON 115:3 The confession that God does all that he pleases is pertinent in reply to the Gentiles’ taunt (v. 2), because in Dan. 4:35 and Jonah 1:14, Gentiles confess this once they realize that the Lord is the true God.