DUNCAN/Not to us, O Lord

If you have your Bibles, I’d invite you to turn with me to Psalm 115. I want to point out several parts of the passage as we look through it. This is a song of praise that has been used many times on notable occasions of wonderful deliverances of God in which it’s very clear that it’s His hand that has been at work. But you may be saying, “Right now that’s not how I feel. In fact, I find myself in the midst of a great battle and there’s uncertainty as to its outcome, and I’m discouraged, and I don’t know what’s coming next.” I want to tell you that I’ve got some good news for you, because though this psalm has been used on many notable occasions of victory. It is in fact a psalm written for people who are in the middle of a struggle, who have not yet seen the victory that they’re longing for. The announcement of the victory in verse 1 is not the context in which the song is sung. It’s the goal to which the song aspires. The context in which the song is sung is God’s people caught in the midst of the mocking persecution of their enemies. God’s people caught under weighty burdens that they wonder if they can bear. So, I want to encourage you with this song that seeks to praise God in victory, yet encourages people to press on in difficulty. 

A Reply to Idol-Makers and Idol-Worshipers 

I want to turn you first to the taunts of unbelievers against God’s people in verse 2. There we see the context for the psalm. I don’t know exactly what circumstances Israel is currently facing, but clearly, because of what is happening, the nations look upon Israel and it appears as though their God has abandoned them. But notice the worship leader’s response. He begins a protest, and you see that protest in verses 3 to 8 in which he himself turns around and mocks the idols of the unbelieving nations who are taunting Israel. They are mocked because Israel doesn’t have an image to worship, and all the nations have their images. They have their idols. However, as we see in verses 4 to 7, their idols are the work of human hands. They can’t hear, speak, feel, or walk. They are worthless. 

And then this unbelievably important verse — Verse 8 — “Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them.” Hear this great principle of worship my friends —You become like what you worship, and if you worship an idol which is nothing, you will become empty and vain and be brought to nothing. But if you worship God who is in the heavens who does all that He pleases, you will be growing into what it is to be the image of God because you are the only image that He allows for. He does not allow us to make any other image. He has chosen us to be His image bearers. We are to reflect the glory of His character, but if you worship an idol, you’ll become like it.

Now let’s be very clear. Perhaps you don’t know many people who have idol shrines in their homes. Though there might be some, idolatry isn’t just about carving a statue and worshiping a piece of wood or stone. It is about worshiping anything other than the one true God, and anything that we value more than or as much as Him. Anything that we trust in for protection and blessing instead of Him is an idol. And so, idolatry is just as relevant and just as contemporary as it was when this psalm was first written and first sung by the people of God. 

Exhortation to Look to God

And then come three exhortations in verses 9-11. In contrast to the idol-worshipers who look to their self-made idols for both provision and protection, for both defense and supply, the author of this psalm urges the people of God to trust in the Lord. What is the idea that’s repeated? God is the one who protects you. He is your help and shield. Not the idols — Not things made by your own hands, but God is the source of your protection.

And then in verses 12 to 15, “The LORD has remembered us. He” — and notice how many times it’s said — “He will bless us; He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron; He will bless those who fear the LORD, both the small and the great. May the LORD give you increase, you and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD who made the heaven and earth.” In other words, not only are you to look to the Lord for the supply of your protection. You are to look to the Lord as the source of your provision. He is the one who brings true blessing into your life, not an idol made by your own hands, not by something that you can manipulate. He is the source of your supply. He is the one who gives you protection. He is the one who gives you blessing.

Exhortation to Praise 

And then the psalmist turns back to the people of God, having reminded them the source of their protection and the source of their provision, and he exhorts them to praise God. You see this in verses 16 to 18. But verse 17 is interesting, isn’t it? It commands the listener to praise God now while you’re alive; don’t wait until you’re in the grave where you can’t. The idolatrous nations had hopes for the afterlife that were not grounded in reality or the justice of God. In the Old Testament there’s a strong emphasis on the finality of death. Because of this, you will find the Old Testament author exhorting you, as a believer, to praise God now while you can before your lips are silenced by death. It’s a protest against the superstition about death so widely held in the context in which Israel lived and worked and worshiped.

But verse 18 offers a very interesting hint in the direction of the new covenant realities that are so clearly revealed in the Scripture of the New Testament. And did you hear the words of verse 18? “We will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore.” Why? Because not unto us, not unto us, but to Your name be the glory. Though we are now under burdens that seem unbearable, yet will He put the stanza of verse 1 on our lips and we will sing it. So, in our burdens, let us sing it now, even as we sing of the blood of the Redeemer who spares us of our sins. Let us prepare to sing it in victory when that victory comes, for it will, as surely as you breathe. Let us prepare to sing it forever.

The Rev. Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III  is the Chancellor/CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary and the John E. Richards Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology. He is also currently serving as President of RTS Jackson.