Psalm 115

Psalm 115.

You are never more as God intended you to be

and we are worshipers.

It is wired into our very being.

If we do not worship the one true and living God,

we will inevitably worship it something lesser.

These two sets of three verses

each serve as an inclusio

for verses 4 through 15.

These types of structures are important for us.

They're meant to draw us

to central things being taught.

They bookend for us

a juxtaposition between the worship of false gods

and the strong confidence that we can have

in worshiping the one true and living God.

So here has been my prayer for you this morning.

If you are of the nations,

one of those who do not belong to God,

who worships the creation rather than the creator,

my prayer for you is that you will behold

the steadfast love and faithfulness of God

this morning toward his people

and that you will be moved

to place saving faith in the person and work

of Jesus Christ, right?

That you might be counted amongst his people.

If you are already of God's people,

if you've already placed this saving faith in Jesus Christ,

my prayer for you is that you will behold

the steadfast love and faithfulness of God

afresh this morning.

You will see it once again

and that he will show you

how inclined you are

to still worship at the feet

of the creation.

Having been adopted into the family of God,

how likely you are to turn back from him

to lesser forms of worship.

So there are two points for this morning

if you're a note taker.

Our number one,

the futility of false gods.

And number two,

the glory of the one true and living God.

The psalmist here makes for us

such a very clear point

and he like stacks up the imagery for us

to help us to understand

the futility or uselessness

of false gods.

He says in verse four,

their idols are silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

Idols are created things.

The psalmist tells us in verse four

they are the work of human hands.

They are made of precious metals here

in verse four,

but they are made all the same.

Made by human hands.

And he elaborates this point

with these accusations of uselessness.

Verse five,

they have mouths.

That is an image of a mouth,

but they don't speak.

In juxtaposition to that,

Genesis chapter one

tells of God creating the world

with mighty words.

He has spoken and speaks,

but idols are dumb.

They cannot utter anything.

Certainly not to tell us anything

of any value whatsoever.

They cannot speak words of promise

or encouraging or threatening.

They also have eyes,

but do not see.

Again,

in juxtaposition,

when Hagar is told by an angel

of the Lord

that she will bear a son,

it was recorded in Genesis 16

and verse 13.

So she called the name of the Lord

who spoke to her.

You are a God of seeing.

Our God sees.

He takes in

and he acts accordingly.

Verse six says,

they have ears,

but they do not hear.

Exodus chapter two

and verse 24,

we see God hear the groaning

of his people in captivity

in Egypt.

And verse 24 says,

and God remembered his covenant

with Abraham,

with Isaac,

and with Jacob.

A God who cannot hear

is a God that is useless

to pray to.

There's no point in praying

to an inanimate God.

There is a God,

a singular God,

who hears and responds.

Verse six goes on,

they have noses,

but do not smell.

And this is likely a reference

to God's acceptance of sacrifice.

Genesis chapter eight

records for us in verse 21,

when Noah exits the ark,

that he made an altar

and he put on it a sacrifice.

And verse 21 says,

and when the Lord smelled

the pleasing aroma,

the Lord said in his heart,

I will never again curse the ground

because of man,

for the intention of man's heart

is evil from his youth.

Neither will I ever again

strike down every living creature

as I have done.

So we have a God

who accepts the sacrifice of men.

A God who cannot smell,

cannot receive

an acceptable sacrifice.

Verse seven says,

they have hands,

but do not feel.

False gods cannot sympathize

with our weakness

or bring us any comfort at all.

The author of Hebrews writes

in chapter four in verse 15,

for we do not have a high priest

who is unable to sympathize

with our weaknesses,

but one who in every respect

has been tempted as we are,

yet without sin.

These idols have feet,

but do not walk.

False gods have no activity.

But the one true and living God

does all that he pleases.

False gods do nothing.

The prophet Amos records

in chapter four in verse 13,

for behold,

he who forms the mountains

and creates the wind

and declares to man

what is his thought,

who makes the morning darkness

and treads on the heights

of the earth.

Right?

He walks on the heights

of the earth.

The Lord,

the God of hosts,

is his name.

And these idols,

verse seven tells us,

make not a sound

in their throat.

Or,

more literally,

they don't muse.

They have no thoughts.

False gods are lifeless

and useless.

This is a comprehensive,

charge list.

Idols are utterly useless,

and the worship of them

and exercise in futility.

To worship anything

other than the one

true and living God

is wasted worship.

In studying these chapters

against false gods,

my mind was drawn

to the taunting words

of Elijah

to the prophets of Baal

in 1 Kings 18,

in verse 27.

He says,

cry aloud,

for he is a god.

Either he is musing

or he is relieving himself

or he is on a journey

or perhaps he is asleep

and must be awakened.

Utter futility

to worship anything other

than God himself.

The psalmist continues

by telling us in

verse eight,

that those who make them

become like them

and so do all

who trust in them.

We become like

the things

that we worship.

This is striking.

It's incredible.

And this kind of language

is picked up

all throughout the scripture

of people who are not

following God.

Right?

People who are

without their senses.

Right?

They can't see

and they don't hear.

Jeremiah chapter 5,

Jeremiah 5:21

verse 21 and following.

Hear this,

O foolish and senseless people

who have eyes

but do not see,

who have ears

but hear not.

Do you not fear me?

Declares the Lord.

Do you not tremble

before me?

I place the sand

as the boundary

for the sea.

A perpetual barrier

that it cannot pass.

Though the waves

toss,

they cannot prevail.

Though they roar,

they cannot

pass over it.

And the sea

was always seen

by the Hebrew people

as a great evil.

Right?

God is saying,

I set the limit

of that.

Verse 23,

But this people

has a stubborn

and rebellious heart.

They have turned aside

and gone away.

They do not say

in their hearts,

Let us fear the Lord

our God

who gives the rain

in its season,

the autumn rain

and the spring rain

and keeps for us

the weeks

appointed

for the harvest.

Ezekiel chapter 12

Ezekiel 12 · chapter mention

and verse 2.

Ezekiel writes,

Son of man,

you dwell in the midst

of a rebellious house

who have eyes to see

but see not,

who have ears to hear

but hear not,

for they are a

rebellious house.

This is the end result

of our idolatry.

Not seeing,

not hearing,

being senseless,

being rebels

against God.

And praise be to God

that by His Spirit,

He works faith

in blind

and deaf people.

We once were blind,

but now we see

if we are in Christ.

In Matthew chapter 13,

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

Jesus responds

to the apostles

asking why He speaks

in parables.

Much of Jesus' language

is so very confusing

on the surface.

Why not go around

teaching more

plainly?

And in verse 11

and following,

He says,

To you it has been given

to know the secrets

of the kingdom of heaven,

but to them

it has not been given.

For to the one who has,

more will be given

and he will have

an abundance,

but from the one

who has not,

even what he has

will be taken away.

This is why I speak

to them in parables

because seeing,

they do not see,

and hearing,

they do not hear,

nor do they understand.

Indeed, in their case,

the prophecy of Isaiah

is fulfilled that says,

and this is Isaiah 6,

Isaiah 6:9

verses 9 and 10,

You will indeed hear,

but never understand,

and you will indeed see,

but never perceive.

For this people's heart

has grown dull,

and with their ears

they can barely hear,

and their eyes

they have closed.

Lest they should see

with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand

with their heart

and turn,

and I would heal them.

But blessed are your eyes

for they see

and your ears

for they hear.

For truly I say to you,

many prophets

and righteous people

long to see

what you see

and did not see it,

and to hear

what you hear

and did not hear it.

And beloved,

if we are in Christ

this morning,

we have seen

and heard.

We have beheld

Christ

himself.

we have been

turned from our

evil ways.

We have been

made less senseless.

We have been

turned to the

Most High God

we now see

and we hear.

And most of us

do not find ourselves

in a position

to bow down

to carved images.

I don't know

that this is

happening much,

although this morning

I was told

that there's a

large night hawk

now on one of the

UNG campuses

that's getting

prayed to

and gifts given to it

and touched for good luck.

I was shocked

to hear such a thing.

It was more

striking

considering Psalm 115

this week.

This is not

typically

the shape

that our

idolatry takes

but the Bible

is relentless

about the

idolatry of our

hearts

because we're

people created

to worship

but to worship

God

alone.

In the Decalogue

Exodus 20

in verse 3

we are commanded

you shall have

no other

gods

before me.

We have to be

very careful

that we don't

see commands

like that

that we don't

read Psalm 115

and think

I don't

bow down

to any

graven images.

There's no

idolatry in my

life that looks

like what's

being explained

here but I

would suggest

to you that

oh on the

contrary.

Charles Spurgeon

once said

and this is the

quote on your

bulletin this

morning if you

happen to have

one,

quote,

if you love

anything better

than God

you are

idolaters.

If there's

anything you

would not give

up for God

it is your

idol.

If there's

anything that

you seek with

greater fervor

than you seek

the glory of

God that is

your idol.

And conversion

means a

turning from

every idol.

Beloved, an

idol is anything

that we place

as the primary

focus of our

lives.

idolaters.

And it's very

possible to do

this with good

things.

We regularly

take good

things and

make them

idols by

loving them

above God

himself.

We do this

with security.

We do this

with all

sorts of

material

possessions.

We do it

with knowledge.

You bunch of

reformed

Baptists.

We do it

with our

political

ideologies,

with control

and comfort.

We do it

with our

health,

pleasure.

We do it

with success

or significance.

I have

idolatrously

worshipped

being a

pastor.

Isn't it

good to be a

pastor?

Of course it's

good to be a

pastor.

It's not good

to worship

being a

pastor.

creator.

We do it

with our

physical

appearance,

our leisure

time,

our ambitions.

We do it

even with our

family and

our church.

We have to

be so very

careful where

we place our

affection.

Even the good

things can get

misaligned and

we can love

those things

more than the

very God who

grants them.

to us.

We've

recently studied

James.

James chapter

James 4:1

4,

verse 1,

James writes,

what causes

quarrels and

what causes

fights among

you?

Is it not

this, that

your passions

are at war

within you?

You desire

and do not

have, so you

murder.

You covet and

cannot obtain,

so you fight

and quarrel.

You do not

have because

you do not

ask.

You ask and

do not receive

because you

ask wrongly

to spend

it on

your passions.

James is

suggesting to

us that we

would be a

people at

peace were

we not

idolatrous.

We weren't

worshipping the

creation rather

than the

creator.

And we know

this because he

goes on in

verse 4 of

James 4 to

say,

you adulterous

people,

do you not

know that

friendship with

the world is

enmity with

God?

God.

Therefore,

whoever wishes

to be a

friend of

the world

makes himself

an enemy

of God.

And so,

if we are to

be worshippers

of God,

created in

Christ Jesus

for this,

then we

have to be

very careful

about the

lingering

idolatry

of our

hearts.

We have to

be constantly

assessing those

things in our

life that

draw our

attention.

Has this

become a

matter of

worship for

me or just

a thing that

I do?

Serving my

family,

working my

job,

owning my

home and

my car and

taking the

vacation,

all of those

things,

they ought to

be under

great scrutiny

to be sure

that our

hearts have

not drifted

away from

worship of

our God.

I think a

little helpful

rubric,

although there's

a number of

great rubrics

out there to

kind of run

your heart

through,

as one put

forth by A.W.

Tozer,

and he called

them rules for

self-

discovery,

and what he

meant by that

was how to

recognize where

the inclination

of your heart

was at,

and there's

seven of

them,

so here

they are.

Number one,

what we

want most.

You think

about things

that you want,

what is it

that you

think about?

What is it

that you

desire?

Number two,

what we

think about

most.

Where is

your mind

set throughout

the day?

Number three,

how we

use our

money.

Is our

money being

spent on

things that

are ultimately

about serving

us,

or about

serving the

kingdom of

God?

Are we

storing up

treasure here,

or treasure

above?

Fourth,

what we do

with our

leisure time.

When you've

got some free

time,

how do you

tend to

spend it?

Number five,

the company

we enjoy.

what kind

of people

do you

like to

be around?

Number six,

who and

what we

admire.

And number

seven,

what we

laugh at.

Things can

be helpful

to us to

think about

the inclination

of our

hearts.

Now,

because God

loves us

if we're

his people,

he cares

about exposing

our idolatry.

He wants

us to see

our idolatry

that we

might repent

of it and

return to

him.

And he

does this

in a number

of ways.

He does

it by his

word and

his spirit.

Hebrews 4

and verse 12

says,

the word of

God is

living and

active,

sharper than

any two-edged

sword,

piercing the

division of

soul and

spirit,

of joints

and of

marrow,

and discerning

the thoughts

and intentions

of the

heart.

Oh,

Christian,

that we

would be in

his word

and inviting

him in,

that he

would expose

our hearts

by the light

of his

word.

That we

might repent

and return

and worship

him with

all of our

being.

Secondly,

God exposes

our idolatry

by frustrating

our idols,

by withholding

them,

or by allowing

us to

experience

their futility.

Sometimes he

keeps you from

the thing that

you want to

show how much

you want it,

and sometimes

he gives it

to you so

that you'll

realize what

a waste of

energy it

really was.

In Psalm

Psalms 106:13

106,

verse 13

and following,

this is a

reference to

Korah's

rebellion from

Numbers chapter

Numbers 16 · chapter mention

16,

I'll let you

go read

about that.

It records,

God as

God also exposes our idolatry by giving us, number three, an example of true worship.

To look toward.

What does true worship look like?

1 Kings 18, verse 36.

1 Kings 18:36

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said,

O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,

let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant

and that I have done all these things at your word.

God also exposes our idolatry, number four, by administering loving discipline.

Hebrews chapter 12, verse 5 and 6.

Hebrews 12:5

The author of Hebrews, as an encouragement to a people who are suffering, says,

And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives.

So because God loves us, he disciplines us, he trains us in righteousness,

because he knows that the very best thing that he can give to us is himself.

It's himself.

So we must be very careful, right?

The psalmist is trying to teach us about the futility of idolatry.

We must not think that we're immune to this,

but see that it still exists within us, even if we're in Christ.

This temptation to worship lesser things than our most high God.

And so what is the remedy for all of this idolatry?

It's proper worship.

It's proper worship.

So we see in the text also, the second main point,

the glory of the one true and living God.

The psalmist tells us, in order for us to properly worship,

we need to trust, to place our faith in this true and living God.

And we get wonderful repetitions here.

Verse 9, 10, and 11.

O Israel, trust in the Lord.

He is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord.

He is their help and their shield.

You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord.

He is their help and their shield.

And I have to believe that when these repetitions exist in the Scripture,

it is because we're supposed to pay attention to them.

We need to be told again and again and again,

trust in the Lord.

He is a help and a shield.

Trust in the Lord.

He is a help and a shield.

Trust in the Lord.

He is a help and a shield.

He is actively and passively pursuing our good.

What a reason to praise our God.

Paul writes in Romans chapter 8,

Romans 8:28

verse 28 and 29.

And we know that for those who love God,

all things work together for good.

For those who are called according to his purpose.

And here's the good, beloved.

For those whom he foreknew,

he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.

In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

There's no question there about the good that he's bringing about in our lives.

As God is to be trusted,

as he is working actively and passively for our good,

he's making us look more like Jesus.

So that we might bring him more glory.

Right?

Not to us, O Lord.

Not to us.

But to your name give glory.

Then again, repetition.

Verses 12, 13, 14, and 50.

The Lord has remembered us.

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 heaven and earth.

Right?

What does he bless us with?

He will bless us with himself.

In Joshua chapter 1, verse 5.

Joshua 1:5

God says,

I will not leave you or forsake you.

And he has promised the very same to us who believe in Christ.

The author of Hebrews again picks up chapter 13 and verse 5.

This quotation from Joshua 1, 5.

He says,

Keep your life free from the love of money.

And be content with what you have.

Be not idolatrous about possessions.

The author of Hebrews says.

For he has said,

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

So the remedy to this idolatry,

this useless,

this futile energy,

this proper worship of the one true and living God.

He deserves all of our worship.

And we are most like we were created to be

when we give him all of our worship.

So may we be God's people,

having placed saving faith in Jesus Christ,

who recognize the steadfast love and faithfulness of God to us,

so that we will turn from our idolatrous ways

and turn to him in admiration and praise.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.