1 Not to us, Yahweh, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth's sake. 2 Why should the nations say, "Where is their God, now?" 3 But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. 4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5 They have mouths, but they don't speak. They have eyes, but they don't see. 6 They have ears, but they don't hear. They have noses, but they don't smell. 7 They have hands, but they don't feel. They have feet, but they don't walk, neither do they speak through their throat. 8 Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them. 9 Israel, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 10 House of Aaron, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 11 You who fear Yahweh, trust in Yahweh! He is their help and their shield. 12 Yahweh remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. 13 He will bless those who fear Yahweh, both small and great. 14 May Yahweh increase you more and more, you and your children. 15 Blessed are you by Yahweh, who made heaven and earth. 16 The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh; but the earth has he given to the children of men. 17 The dead don't praise Yah, neither any who go down into silence; 18 But we will bless Yah, from this time forth and forevermore. Praise Yah!
It is not possible now to ascertain on what occasion this psalm was composed, or who was its author. It has been generally believed that it was written in the later periods of the Jewish history, and after the captivity in Babylon. There is no improbability in the supposition, though there is nothing so marked in the psalm as to make this supposition necessary. It is evident from Psalm 115:2-3, that it was composed in a time of national calamity, and especially of such national disaster as might lead the surrounding nations to say of them that they were forsaken by the God whom they worshipped. This charge is replied to by saying that what had occurred had taken place under the divine permission, and was no proof that Yahweh was not the true God. This thought leads the author of the psalm to prove the utter powerlessness of idols as compared with Yahweh, and, in view of this, to exhort the people of Israel still to trust in their own God as the Being in whom alone they could hope for protection and safety.
The psalm, therefore, comprises the following parts:
I. A statement that all which they had was to be traced to God, Psalm 115:1.
II. The existing troubles of the nation as being so great that the pagan were led to infer that Yahweh could not help them, and to ask, with some show of plausibility, where now was the God in whom they trusted? Psalm 115:2.
III. The general statement of the psalmist that what had occurred was to be traced to God; that it was not evidence that he had forsaken them, but was proof that he was a sovereign, Psalm 115:3.
IV. A statement of the utter weakness, helplessness, and inefficiency of idols; of their entire powerlessness as being without life; and of the stupidity and folly of worshipping such lifeless objects, Psalm 115:4-8.
V. An exhortation to trust in the Lord, on the ground of what he had done, and of the blessings which were to be expected of him, Psalm 115:9-16.
VI. An exhortation to do this at once, since death would soon occur, and praise could not be rendered to him in the grave, Psalm 115:17-18,
God alone is to be glorified, Psalm 115:1-3. The vanity of idols, Psalm 115:4-8. Israel, the house of Aaron, and all that fear God, are exhorted to trust it the Lord, Psalm 115:9-11. The Lord's goodness to his people, and his gracious promises, Psalm 115:12-16. As the dead cannot praise him, the living should, Psalm 115:17, Psalm 115:18.
This Psalm is written as a part of the preceding by eighteen of Kennicott's and fifty-three of De Rossi's MSS.; by some ancient editions the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Vulgate, the Ethiopic, the Arabic, and the Anglo-Saxon. The old Anglo-Scottish Psalter reads it consecutively with the foregoing. Who the author of both was, we know not, nor on what occasion it was written. It seems to be an epinikion or triumphal song, in which the victory gained is entirely ascribed to Jehovah.
INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 115
This psalm is by the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, joined to the former, and makes one psalm with it: and Kimchi says, that in some books the psalm does not begin here; but in the best and correct copies of the Hebrew, and in the Targum, it stands a distinct psalm; and the different subject matter or argument shows it to be so. It is ascribed to various persons; by some to Moses and the Israelites, when pursued by Pharaoh: by others to the three companions of Daniel, cast into the fiery furnace: by others to Mordecai and Esther, when Haman distressed the Jews: by others to the heroes at the times of Antiochus and the Maccabees; so Theodoret: by some to Jehoshaphat, when a numerous army came against him; and by others to David, which is more probable; though on what occasion is not easy to say: some have thought it was written by him, when insulted by the Jebusites, 2-Samuel 5:6. The occasion of it seems to be some distress the church of God was in from the Heathens; and the design of it is to encourage trust and confidence in the Lord; and to excite the saints to give him the glory of all their mercies, and to expose the vanity of idols.
(Psalm 115:1-8) Glory to be ascribed to God.
(Psalm 115:9-18) By trusting in him and praising him.
Call to the God of Israel, the Living God, to Rescue the Honour of His Name
This Psalm, which has scarcely anything in common with the preceding Psalm except that the expression "house of Jacob," Psalm 114:1, is here broken up into its several members in Psalm 115:12., is found joined with it, making one Psalm, in the lxx, Syriac, Arabic and Aethiopic versions, just as on the other hand Ps 116 is split up into two. This arbitrary arrangement condemns itself. Nevertheless Kimchi favours it, and it has found admission into not a few Hebrew manuscripts.
It is a prayer of Israel for God's aid, probably in the presence of an expedition against heathen enemies. The two middle strophes of the four are of the same compass. Ewald's conjecture, that whilst the Psalm was being sung the sacrifice was proceeded with, and that in Psalm 115:12 the voice of a priest proclaims the gracious acceptance of the sacrifice, is pleasing. But the change of voices begins even with Psalm 115:9, as Olshausen also supposes.
*More commentary available by clicking individual verses.