Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

² Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
³ Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
⁸ Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is their help and their shield.
¹² The Lord has remembered 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 the Lord,
both the small and the great.

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase,
you and your children!
¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the children of man.
¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord,
nor do any who go down into silence.
¹⁸ But we will bless the Lord
from this time forth and forevermore.
Praise the Lord!

1) What is this psalm contrasting?
Verse 1 starts out by saying, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name be glory.” Herein lies the contrast of the psalm: God vs any other idol we would claim as being deity or God. Anything humans can fashion with their hands, their minds, or their abilities compared to the Almighty Glorious God is the focus of this psalm.

2) In verse 8, how do “those who make them, become like them”?
In the original context, “those who make them” are human beings who spend time crafting physical idols from stone or wood for the purpose of worshipping them. In that culture, people believed they could sway the “gods” to do certain acts by sacrificing to them and even “feeding” them with actual food and drink. The psalm details out how foolish it is to think that an inanimate object created with your own hands can do your bidding or satisfy you or protect you in any way. It’s merely a block of wood or piece of stone! The Psalmist’s point in saying that they will “become like them”, is to say that just as stone or wood are utterly lifeless, those who worship them will themselves become lifeless.

3) Who will the Lord bless? (verses 12-13)
These 2 verses specifically call out three people groups who will be blessed: Israel, Aaron, and those who fear the Lord. Israel is the nation and can be thought of as the political, social, and civil areas that the Lord would bless. The house of Aaron refers to the descendants of Aaron, all of whom are priests in the temple. Those who fear the Lord were those who were not of Israeli heritage, but still worshipped and honored the One True God.

4) Who is being referred to in verse 18 and why are they contrasted to the dead?
Those who “will bless the Lord” are those who have been blessed by Him, those who have found delight in His ways, in worshipping Him, and have found that satisfied, full life offered through relationship with God. These are contrasted with those who have chosen false, empty idols to be their “gods”. When idol worshippers die, there is no longer an opportunity for a relationship with God to worship Him; their choice will separate them from the Living God and their lips cannot praise Him from the grave. Their choice to serve idols will go into a lifeless eternity of perpetual death. But for those who fear the Lord, even death will not separate them or keep them from worshipping the Creator “from this time forth and forevermore”!

1) What is this psalm contrasting?
Gracefully Truthful is all about honest transparency. Why don’t you sit with us for a minute and challenge yourself to be transparent. Sit somewhere quiet (even if it’s the bathroom!), invite the Holy Spirit to guide you, and breathe. Right now, in this moment, in the middle of your everyday, who are you trusting? Start from the moment your eyes opened and consider where you have put your hope, what have you trusted, what are you counting on to be your protection? Who or what is holding the most influence over the places of your heart that mean the most to you? Read this psalm 3 times over and focus in on where the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. We’d love to share in what God is teaching you! Share on our Facebook page or give us a shout via email!

2) In verse 8, how do “those who make them, become like them”?
Feeding physical idols, praying to them, and crafting them isn’t overly common in our Western culture, though these practices are very much alive in other parts of the world. The idea of idols that we worship is most definitely still applicable to us, however. Our idols don’t have to be wood shaped with a knife we hold in our hands, but they could be those things we hold onto in our hearts. The intangible idols are just as dangerous and pointlessly ineffective as the tangible ones. Money, bosses, spouse, children, our bodies, our plans or schedule, all of these and many more can easily fall into the category of “idol” if we are willing to put it before our worship of the One True God. Don’t let idol worship steal away your life!

3) Who will the Lord bless? (verses 12-13)
The bottom line take-away from these verses is that the Lord will indeed bless His chosen ones, those who are fear Him and honor Him, and, in keeping with the rest of the psalm, He will be their shield, their protector, and their ever-faithful God. The Lord doesn’t guarantee physical, material wealth and abundance, but He promises something far richer, His presence. You may be neither a Jew (Israelite), nor a church leader/minister (Aaron/Levite), but if you set the Lord apart in your everyday life choices and seek to honor Him, He will bless you! Consider the ways you are already honoring Him, and ask Him to be your protector, shield, and faithful God, making good on His promises. Also identify some areas where you may not be honoring Him; choose to turn those over to His hand!

4) Who is being referred to in verse 18 and why are they contrasted to the dead?
Have you wrestled with your eternal destination? Have you considered that what you worship today with your whole heart, in this right-now-moment, carries weight into your eternity? The line in the sand could not be more clearly drawn in this psalm, what about in your heart and life?

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We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources.  Just type in the verse you’re looking at and Boom! It’s right in front of you in English and Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament), which are the original languages the Bible was written in.

Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Find super awesome stuff like “origin”, “definition”, and even all the different ways that single word has been translated into English! If you want to be geeky, you can even click the word and hear its original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!

Want to get more background on a word or phrasing or passage? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))

Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.

In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!

Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.

Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus.
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