Psalm 1151 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!2Why should the nations say,
"Where is their God?"
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, 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 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.9O Israel, trust 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 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!
He is their help and their shield.
Idols are pathetic, powerless, impotent . There's no point in having ears if you can't hear, there's no point having hands if you can feel anything with them. These idols can not do anything, God can do whatever he pleases! (v3)
v8 says that those who make or trust in idols become like them. If we're chasing the idol of money/possessions, we end up just like those pointless idols - we've got the stuff but we can't enjoy it because it didn't solve the problem we thought it was going to solve, it didn't make us happy. If we're pursuing the idol of image/reputation, we end up like the impotent idols - we have friends but we can't fully enjoy their friendship because we're so concerned with keeping it. We have people who love us but we can't enjoy deep relationships with them because we're not letting them see the real, unedited version of us. If we're worshipping the idol of the perfect family, we end up just like those powerless idols - we get married but it didn't solve all our problems and the marriage struggles. We've got the kids we wanted but can't enjoy life as a family because we're too concerned with controlling what they do.
Instead of trusting in these idols, we should trust in the Lord. A phrase which is repeated 3 times in this psalm. Why can we trust Him?
God is your help - what will help you in that difficult situation that you're in is not more money, more stuff, the approval of others or getting a boyfriend. It's Jesus who was willing to suffer in our place, for our sins. -
Instead of trusting in these idols, we should trust in the Lord. A phrase which is repeated 3 times in this psalm. Why can we trust Him?
God is your help - what will help you in that difficult situation that you're in is not more money, more stuff, the approval of others or getting a boyfriend. It's Jesus who was willing to suffer in our place, for our sins. -
God is your shield, your protection - what you need to feel more secure is not a better salary, that person to accept your friend request on facebook or a wife. It's Jesus who completed His work on the cross - dealing with all your past, present and future sins.
God is faithful and shows steadfast love - we might be worrying about the value of our house going down, a colleague gossiping about us behind our back or our kids going off the rails but we can be certain of God's position towards us which never changes - even while we were sinners Christ died for us. We did nothing to commend ourselves to Him (we were actually doing the opposite) but He paid the penalty so that we could be in relationship with Him.
"Not to us, O Lord, but to Your Name be the glory"