“Not to us . . . but to your name be the glory” (Psalm 115:1). I’m a preacher and sometimes people tell me how much they enjoyed my talk. I appreciate their encouragement, but I long to hear them say, “Thank you for your talk. Isn’t the Lord Jesus a wonderful Saviour?” People might tell us how much they’ve been blessed by the ministry of our church. We’re thankful, but we want to hear them say, “We love coming to your church. You serve a wonderful God.”

Our music team might be complimented for how they led the singing. Yet they lead music so people might be inspired to praise not them and their musical talents, but the beauty, goodness, and glory of God. Jesus told us to shine our light before people so “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Psalm 115 begins and ends on this same note of glorifying and extolling God and Him alone (vv. 1, 17–18). In verses 2–8, the psalmist shows us the foolishness of worshipping lifeless idols. He lists seven things an idol cannot do: speak, see, hear, smell, feel, walk about, or make a sound. In the Bible, the number seven is often used as a symbol of totality (for example, the seven days of creation or the seven churches of Revelation 2 and 3). Therefore the psalmist is showing us how totally useless man-made idols are. In contrast, the living God speaks through His prophets, sees and hears us, walks with Israel in the wilderness, and smells their fragrant offerings.

The natural response to the God who is alive and rules from heaven is to “trust in the Lord” (vv. 9–11). Nevertheless, like people in the ancient world who relied on worthless things made of wood, silver, and gold, many today rely on themselves. We admire the self-reliant, independent man or woman. The ”self-made” millionaire is someone to emulate. But this is just another form of idolatry—worshipping and trusting the creature rather than the creator.

The apostle Paul calls the greedy person an idolater (see Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:5). We can be tempted to trust money and possessions for our security, well-being, and reputation. Like the idol-worshippers of ancient Israel, we might still confess that we trust in the Lord, but in times of need we look elsewhere for our “help and shield” (Psalm 115:11). Yet, in times of trouble and crisis, only God can truly be relied on.

Psalm 115 promises that those who trust in the Lord will be richly blessed (vv. 12–15). We who have put our trust in the Lord Jesus know how true that is. Our testimony is that God “has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3).