“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your name give glory, for the sake of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness!” This opening prayer of Psalm 115 has been quoted throughout history by those grateful to God for victories He has given. The psalm calls us to put our trust in the LORD, mindful of how He has helped us in times past, and confident that He will help us in the future. In highly sarcastic and mocking words, the people of God are reminded of the importance of the Second Commandment. “Worshiping an invisible God was incomprehensible to Israel’s pagan neighbors… But there was a profound reason for God’s forbidding the use of images in His worship: namely, God cannot be represented by idols without being grossly misrepresented. God is not less real than the material idol but infinitely more real, infinitely greater, infinitely higher. Thus any misrepresentation of God by anything material merely debases God and misleads the worshiper” (James Boice). Anything more important to us than the real God is an alternate god. Whatever this idol may be, it will be powerless to provide the love, guidance, and forgiveness we are searching for, and we will be drawn downward, not upward (v 2-8). False gods offer nothing, for they are utterly impotent. But the true and living God is a “help” and a “shield” to those who trust in Him. So three times we are exhorted to “trust in the LORD,” and not the other things that so easily take God’s proper place in our lives (v 9-11). If we do trust in the LORD, we will not be disappointed. Five times the word “bless” or “blessed” is used in the next stanza, showing how the LORD delights in doing good to those who seek Him. Every group of people (“both the small and the great”) and every generation (“you and your children”) must have the smile of God upon them, if they would truly thrive. Nothing else in life will provide the deep satisfaction and fullness we all crave (v 12-15). Since God is so faithful and good, we should not only trust Him fully, but praise Him constantly. He made both the heavens and the earth, so all things belong to Him. We are but stewards of the material world, responsible to use every resource for His glory. As long as we live, we should extol Him before others, grateful for every success or victory He grants. After all, no praises are given to God on the earth by dead people! Therefore, let us not fail, even for one day, to offer up our worship. As C. H. Spurgeon wrote, “Though the dead cannot, the wicked will not, and the careless do not praise God, yet we will shout ‘Hallelujah’ forever and ever” (v 16-18). For further meditation: