Psalms 135:15–18

Psalm 115 contrasts the power of God and the emptiness of idols at once, side by side. But Psalm 135 sets out, between these two verses (6 and 15), the full account of what the Lord is in creation, in providence, in redemption, and in government.

What were they, these idol-images? Simply matter — silver and gold — shaped by men's hands! Mouth and eyes are there all right. Both are said to "speak." Both are in different ways a "witness" for the man himself, a pointer to what is in the heart. But the idol gives no response to its worshipper by word or by look. In fact, it registers nothing. It does not hear the voice that cries to it. It does not notice the smell of incense or of sacrifice.

No one saw God, yet He saw all that went on. These gods could be seen, but could not see. God was the living God, who lived in heaven. These had the form of living creatures, but without life, and were found on earth. He acted as He pleased. These could not act at all. They began in the craftsman's imagination. They owed their shape to the workman's skill… How could a dying creature make a living God to save him? Why would anyone need a God he was able to make himself?

Mouth, eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, throat — all were there. Outwardly, nothing was missing. Yet they lacked one thing: the breath of life. That came from God, and man with all his will could not give it. Like a corpse with every limb complete, there was no life. In one respect they differed from a corpse. The corpse had lived, because God had given life to it. These had never lived, for man was their creator, not God.

Men give them imitation mouths, but with no ability to speak. Of course, man can now use electronics to put words in their mouths. But everyone knows the words do not really come from the idol. Simulated eyes are just as useless (v. 16), as are the ears; and they have no breath. It is amazing that people will bow down to such "nothings" and worship them! Why? Man is built to be a worshipper. And because he refuses to worship God, he will worship anything he invents to take the place of God.

What a day it was! From morning until noon the prophets cried, "O Baal, answer us!" They knew that for them everything was at stake. The silence of their deity threw them into a frenzy, and they leaped about the altar they had made.

From this the psalmist turns to urge the people of God to hold fast to Him. He is not powerless and not unfeeling. He is the help and shield of all who trust in Him. Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the Lord are each urged separately, and this is not mere repetition or decoration.

When the Lord acts on behalf of Israel, He will say, "Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted" (Deut. 32:37). Here we get Israel's answer as they pass judgment on the idols of the nations, and on all who put their trust in them.

He cannot stretch out a hand to help. His foot will not move to bring relief. Not even a murmur of sound comes from his idle throat. What can these senseless gods do but degrade the men who bow before them into creatures just as senseless? And this is the just penalty on people who can abandon God to follow what is so plainly their own invention.

When the knowledge of God was lost, man turned to the resources of his own mind to fill the void… In fact the object took its character from that of its worshippers. The debased Egyptian worshipped an ox, reptiles and leeks; the cruel Canaanite, and the Israelite after him, burned his children in honour of the god Moloch.

It is amazing that people will bow down to such "nothings" and worship them! Why? Because man is a worshiper by nature, and because he refuses to worship God, he will worship anything he invents to take the place of God.

In fact, this section ends with the withering verdict that "those who make them become like them." They have no wisdom and no ability to reason rightly. They have lowered themselves to the status of empty "nothings." And this is true of all those who trust in such empty things (v. 18).

In general we may say this. Take any person, thing or theory — I call it a "principle" when I hold it myself, and a "fad" when somebody else holds it. If we allow it to take that position in relation to us, to exercise that authority over us, and to demand from us the devotion that rightly belongs to our Creator, then it is a false god that we are serving. It does not matter what nice-sounding name we call it by… So the gross outward forms of idolatry pass away too; but those who worship the false gods still worship in spirit and in fact.

On one hand, Christ in glory is the model we are to be made like. On the other, looking at Him there is the means the Spirit uses to do it. How simple! We look, and we are changed… We take the stamp of the One we look at. The rays of the glory of His face fall on us, sink into us, and transform us morally into the likeness of our Lord.