“Where, Now, Is Their God?”
Psalms 115
August 15, 2021
Tonight we continue our study of this wonderful group of Psalms
Known as the “Hallel”
• They are the Psalms which were annually sung by the Jews as they partook of the Passover.
• They are the group of Psalms that were sang by our Lord and His disciples after they took the first Lord’s Supper.
• They are a group of Psalms that focus on the great deliverance of God for His people.
• They consist of Psalms 113-118
In Psalms 113 we talked about God’s Humility to Behold His People.
• We saw God do what no god does.
• He did what was beneath Him.
• He humbled himself to behold things in heaven and earth.
• He actually elevated the poor to the status of princes.
In Psalms 114 we talked about God’s Power to Save His People.
• We listened as the Psalmist spoke of the Exodus.
• He actually taunted the sea as it fled.
• He taunted the Jordan river as it stood still.
• And the point was that God’s salvation was not a barely salvation.
• He saved them with a mighty arm.
In both of those Psalms we also saw Christ,
• Who humbled Himself to take on human flesh and dwell among us
• And who saved us totally on the cross making a mockery of sin and death.
Well TONIGHT we move to the 3rd Psalm of this group.
And in Psalms 115 we see God’s Loyalty To Bless His People.
And indeed this is an obvious picture of Christ as well since we read:
Ephesians 1:2-3 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,”
But from Israel’s perspective when this Psalm was written
• It was a focus of God’s unfailing care for them
• As they wandered through the wilderness
• And even as they took the Promised Land.
Time after time God showed His “Loyal Covenantal Love” for them.
We know it is that beloved word “CHECED”
Often times translated as “lovingkindness” but so much more than that.
IT IS GOD’S LOYALTY TO ISRAEL.
GOD IS PRAISED BECAUSE HE CARES FOR THEM.
That is what is on display here in this Psalm.
And the Psalmist makes it clear in the very first verse.
We read: (1) “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”
The Psalm sets the parameters right out of the gate,
That the objective of life is not our glory, but God’s glory.
It reminds us of the famous statement of John the Baptist who was told that Jesus was baptizing as well and was starting to draw a bigger crowd than John.
John 3:27-30 “John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given him from heaven. “You yourselves are my witnesses that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent ahead of Him.’ “He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine has been made full. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John was well aware that the purpose of his life
Was always the glory of Christ.
And the Psalmist is well aware of that too.
It would be the ultimate blasphemy if
• The children of Israel left Egypt,
• Crossed the wilderness,
• Conquered Canaan
• And then they received the credit for it.
It would be akin to us standing tonight and taking credit for our salvation.
• Or us taking credit even for the sanctification that occurs in our life.
• Or us taking credit for our spiritual gifts or accomplishments.
All of those things would be blasphemous and foolish.
We know where all the glory is to go because we know who caused it all.
God has done it all.
• He chose us who are weak.
• He chose us who are not wise.
• He chose us who are not noble.
• So that he who boasts would boast in the Lord.
We understand the cry “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory”
It is a cry for God and God alone to receive all the glory
For all that is accomplished in our lives.
I always loved the analogy that “The donkey who carried Jesus during the Triumphal Entry knew that the applause was not for him.”
So it is with us. So it is with this Psalm.
It begins by setting the focus that
GOD IS TO BE GLORIFIED THROUGH OUR LIVES.
And none of us disagree with that.
Romans 11:36 “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
But here the Psalmist even gets more specific.
• He already highlighted in Psalms 113 that God should receive glory for the HUMILITY HE SHOWED IN BEHOLDING US.
• He already highlighted in Psalms 114 that God should receive glory for the POWER HE SHOWED IN SAVING US.
Here God should receive glory for
THE LOYALTY (CHECED) HE SHOWS IN BLESSING US.
After saying that God alone should receive the glory he says,
“Because of Your lovingkindness (CHECED), because of Your truth.”
And there you have THE POINT OF THE PSALM.
God is loyal to us.
God is faithful to us.
God cares for us perfectly.
We certainly are not always loyal to Him.
• Hosea reminded that our loyalty is often “like a morning cloud which goes away
early”.
We certainly are not always true to Him.
• Psalms 78 reminded that often times our commitments to Him become lies that
we never fulfill.
And that is another reason why we should not receive the glory.
But God is loyal – His loyalties never fail.
Lamentations 3:22 “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.”
God’s CHECED never ceases toward us.
And God never lies, nor can He lie, He is always true.
And THE THRUST OF THE PSALM is that
God now be glorified for that loyalty and that truth.
Certainly He deserves credit for that. Certainly He deserves credit for that.
BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM.
• The world was able to see that God clearly took an interest in Israel.
• The world was able to see that God cared for them.
• The world was able to see His mighty power to save.
After all they saw the plagues on Egypt.
They saw the parting of the Red Sea.
They saw the Jordan river stop up.
God’s humility and God’s power were clearly seen by the world
And so God was rightly credited and glorified for those things.
BUT WHEN THE MIRACULOUS WONDERS STOPPED
THE WORLD STOPPED RECOGNIZING GOD AT WORK.
Was God still at work for His people? Of course
Was God still functioning as their God? Absolutely
But the world didn’t recognize it.
And that is the real frustration of this Psalm.
(2) “Why should the nations say, “Where, now, is there God?”
Now we were at a point where the world didn’t recognize God’s presence with Israel.
• When the plagues weren’t occurring…
• When the sea wasn’t parting…
• When the river wasn’t stopping…
The world looked at Israel and said, “Ha! Their God has departed!”
“Where, now, is there God?”
Now, if you’ll remember
This was actually one of the main concerns of Moses.
When the children of Israel built the golden calf and God was angry and was willing to destroy them, Moses interceded.
Exodus 32:11-14 “Then Moses entreated the LORD his God, and said, “O LORD, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? “Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” So the LORD changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.”
When the children of Israel refused to enter the Promised Land, God was once again angry at His people and Moses once again interceded.
Numbers 14:13-19 “But Moses said to the LORD, “Then the Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought up this people from their midst, and they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that You, O LORD, are in the midst of this people, for You, O LORD, are seen eye to eye, while Your cloud stands over them; and You go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. “Now if You slay this people as one man, then the nations who have heard of Your fame will say, ‘Because the LORD could not bring this people into the land which He promised them by oath, therefore He slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ “But now, I pray, let the power of the Lord be great, just as You have declared, ‘The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.’ “Pardon, I pray, the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You also have forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now.”
There was a real concern from Moses
That God would not be glorified in the sight of the nations
For all that He had done and was doing in Israel.
Well, it seems as though that fear has now become reality.
• The pagan nations surrounding Israel see no evidence that God is with them at all.
And that is even their mocking taunt towards Israel.
“Where, now, is their God?”
And it clearly bothers the Psalmist that the nations would say this.
FOR ONE, God’s full presence was never with Israel.
• God allowed His glory to dwell with Israel,
• But you and I both know that there’s no way that the God of the universe could
have fit in that tent that Moses set up every time the children of Israel stopped.
And even when Solomon built Him a glorious temple, Solomon said:
1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!”
The world certainly was operating on a faulty notion
And the Psalmist points that out.
(3) “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”
So even though the accusation is that God has abandoned His people,
The Psalmist clarifies that this is not the case.
God is as present as He ever was.
• He has always dwelled in heaven and yet He has always cared for His people
from heaven.
BUT HERE IS THE ISSUE.
The pagan nations had begun to reckon the God of heaven
As no different than one of their gods.
And that is what is bothering the Psalmist.
The nations are treating our God
Like He is no different than one of the other gods of the pagans.
That is to say, they are accusing the God of heaven
As though He is doing nothing for Israel
But NOTHING is what the pagan gods do for their people.
(4-8) “Their idols are silver and gold, The work of man’s hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak; They have eyes, but they cannot see; They have ears, but they cannot hear; They have noses, but they cannot smell; They have hands, but they cannot feel; They have feet, but they cannot walk; They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, Everyone who trusts in them.”
It is the common taunt of the Old Testament
Regarding the foolishness of idols.
Perhaps Isaiah makes the best case for the ridiculousness of such idolatry.
TURN TO: Isaiah 44:9-20
Jeremiah 10 examines the same foolishness and says:
Jeremiah 10:5 “Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field are they, And they cannot speak; They must be carried, Because they cannot walk! Do not fear them, For they can do no harm, Nor can they do any good.”
• Those false gods never beheld them because they couldn’t see.
• Those false gods never encouraged them because they couldn’t talk.
• Those false gods never answered them because they couldn’t hear.
• Those false gods never provided for them or delivered them or anything because they were dead.
And consequently that is the way everyone who trusts in them ends up too.
Jeremiah 10:14-15 “Every man is stupid, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols; For his molten images are deceitful, And there is no breath in them. They are worthless, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish.”
But Jeremiah would continue and say:
Jeremiah 10:16 “The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance; The LORD of hosts is His name.”
BUT THAT IS THE PROBLEM HERE.
The nations are accounting Israel’s God to be no different than their gods.
To put it in modern day terms it would be like lumping Jesus in a group
With Allah, Buddha, or any of the 750 plus Hindu gods.
The nations looked at Israel.
And could see no difference between the care of Israel’s God and the care of their gods.
And that is a tragedy!
But listen, THAT WAS NOT GOD’S FAULT.
And this is where this Psalm takes a turn.
The problem that was occurring was with Israel.
• They lived their lives in such a way that you could not discern the difference between their God and the gods of the nations.
AND HERE IS WHY:
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT LIVE
AS A PEOPLE WHO TRUSTED GOD.
Let’s talk about it like this.
If all the children of God do is live just like the world
Then why would the world notice any difference
In the way their God cares for them?
For example:
• If you approach money exactly like the world approaches money how is the world ever going to see that your God is any different than theirs?
• If you approach marriage exactly like the world approaches marriage how is the world ever going to see that your God is any different than theirs?
• If you approach a virus or plague exactly like the world approaches it, how is the world ever going to see that your God is any different than theirs?
In other words if your life is dictated by the same
Behavior and motive and mentality as the world
Then how are they ever going to see how God cares for you?
You’ve likely heard the story before (it’s most likely fictional) but it’s been told often none the less.
About the town of Van Horn, TX.
It is said that in the town a liquor store was being built and as it was being built the local church prayed that God would stop it.
It wasn’t long before lightning struck the liquor store and it burned to the ground.
The story goes that the liquor store owner sued the church for causing the destruction of the store.
The church pleaded no fault
When the judge saw the case he commented, “I’m not sure I know how to rule in this instance because it seems here that we have a liquor store owner who believes in the power of prayer and a church that does not.”
The question here is does your life give any opportunity
For God to put His loyalty to you on display?
Now, before move forward in the Psalm,
Let me give you an example of what that looks like.
We remember the story of Abraham.
• Abraham was a pagan and God chose him.
• Abraham was unfaithful trying to go to Egypt, but God preserved him and Sarah.
• Abraham tried to fulfill the promise by the flesh, but God still granted Isaac by grace.
By the time Abraham is up in years
He is convinced of the loyalty of God on his behalf,
And you actually have a story where Abraham puts that on display.
In Genesis 24 Abraham tells his servant to go back to his country and find a wife for Isaac and bring her to Canaan.
• The request is filled with difficulty.
And the servant even asks:
Genesis 24:5-6 “The servant said to him, “Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?” Then Abraham said to him, “Beware that you do not take my son back there!”
So the servant sets out, but he knows it’s a difficult task so the servant prays.
Genesis 24:12 “He said, “O LORD, the God of my master Abraham, please grant me success today, and show lovingkindness to my master Abraham.”
• From there he prays that God would show him the girl by having her come up and water his camels, and that is exactly what happens.
• Rebekah comes up and drew water for all his camels and the servant was amazed.
• He asked here who she was and she was of the very people that the servant was looking for.
The point is that it is clear that God was working on behalf of Abraham.
And here is what the servant prayed after the event.
Genesis 24:26-27 “Then the man bowed low and worshiped the LORD. He said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken His lovingkindness and His truth toward my master; as for me, the LORD has guided me in the way to the house of my master’s brothers.”
Now when you read that story you see how
Abraham asked for what only God could provide.
And Abraham trusted God to provide.
It opened the door for God to demonstrate His loyalty to Abraham,
And He did to the point that it caused the servant to worship.
Now, to Abraham’s servant,
• Even though there were no miraculous demonstrations of power.
• Even though there were no signs in the heavens.
The servant was convinced that God was with Abraham
Because he witnessed God’s loyalty.
You see that.
Well that’s the problem now in Israel.
They don’t live in such a way as to ever even give God the opportunity to demonstrate His loyalty.
• They live like the pagans…
• They don’t ask any more of God than the pagans ask of their gods…
And so to the pagans it doesn’t appear that God is with them at all.
WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?
(9-11) “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.”
Now pay attention to exactly what is said here.
You obviously see a 3-fold reference.
• “O Israel” – that would be the CHOSEN.
• “house of Aaron” – that would be the CONSECRATED
• “You who fear” – that would be the CONVINCED
So anyone out there who has a relationship with God
The command to them is clear: “trust in the LORD”
Quit walking like the world and start walking by faith.
• Live your life in such a way that gives God the opportunity to demonstrate His glory in the way He cares for you.
But notice also THE WAY the Psalmist writes this.
“O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is THEIR help and THEIR shield.”
Does that seem a little strange in the wording to you?
Shouldn’t it say, “O Israel, trust in the LORD; He is YOUR help and YOUR shield”?
And you notice it is the same wording all 3 times.
WHY does the Psalmist say “their help and their shield” instead of the other way around?
Because the Psalmist here is quoting
What the statement of the world ought to be.
Right now the world looks at Israel and says, “Where, now, is their God?”
The world ought to be looking at Israel and saying, “He is their help and their shield.”
And the way to make that happen is for Israel to start walking by faith.
It is time for Israel to start trusting the LORD.
• Step out in faith and obey Him.
• Get out of the comfort of worldly logic and do what God says.
And when you step out in faith it opens the door
For God to demonstrate His glory and loyalty and truth
In the way He deals with you.
I saw this first hand with my parents.
• In the early 80’s my dad was laid off from his machinist job.
• I remember him taking us to Dairy Queen and telling us he was going to start trading horses.
• I never felt the strain, but I know my parents did.
• And yet, I saw him weekly titheing from what God had provided.
• I saw them continually giving money to a friend in need.
• And every morning we would join as a family and pray that God would provide.
THE POINT?
• I watched my parents position their life as a life of faith
• And it was easy for me or anyone else who watched
• To see how loyal God was to them.
HE NEVER FAILED THEM.
They trusted God and God glorified His name
In the way He cared for them.
He is still doing that.
AND THAT IS THE CALL OF THE PSALMIST.
• Start trusting God.
• Start walking by faith so that God is glorified when He is able to put His loyalty and truth on display.
And incidentally: YOU CAN TRUST GOD.
(12-15) “The LORD has been mindful of 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, The small together with the great. May the LORD give you increase, You and your children. May you be blessed of the LORD, Maker of heaven and earth.”
Do you hear the point of this Psalm?
• God has been loyal and true to care for you continually.
• But your refusal to trust Him and walk by faith has resulted in the world not
being able to recognize it.
In fact, they don’t see any difference between your God and their god
And that is a shame.
Start trusting God and let Him glorify His name as He cares for you.
Do you want a prayer to this effect?
Psalms 67 “God be gracious to us and bless us, And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”
That’s the same message isn’t it?
Your life is meant to be a conduit through which God can glorify Himself in the world.
And that does not always mean that you do something amazing or miraculous and then give God the credit.
At times it’s that you simply trust God and He does what is amazing and glorifies Himself.
He does what only a living God can do.
He speaks, He hears, He smells, He feels, He walks, He cares for His people.
And when you trust God and live different from the world,
He will make that evident to the world and glorify His name.
And the PSALM CLOSES reminding you that this is the point.
(16-18) “The heavens are the heavens of the LORD, But the earth He has given to the sons of men. The dead do not praise the LORD, Nor do any who go down into silence; But as for us, we will bless the LORD From this time forth and forever. Praise the LORD!”
Do you catch his point?
“The dead do not praise the LORD”
That doesn’t mean that people aren’t praising God in heaven, that’s not the point.
The point is that there is a purpose for why God gives life.
Their life is for the purpose of bringing glory to God.
When you’re dead the world can no longer benefit from your life of faith.
When you’re dead the world can no longer benefit from your song of praise.
But while you’re living, that’s the goal.
So go out and live your life in a way
That puts on display the great loyalty and truth of God.
Walk in faith and let God glorify Himself
In the way that He cares for His children.
And this was a song sung at the Passover.
• Psalms 113 was sung to remind them that God glorified Himself by beholding them.
• Psalms 114 was sung to remind them that God gloried Himself by saving them.
• Psalms 115 is to remind them that God glorifies Himself by blessing their faith and obedience.
And as we have said, these Psalms aren’t just about the Passover,
THEY ARE ABOUT THE SALVATION OF CHRIST.
• Jesus told us not to look back at the Passover anymore.
• He told us to look back at the cross.
• “Do this in remembrance of Me”
We might say in regard to the Hallel, “Sing this in remembrance of Me”
AND IT IS TRUE.
It is a tragedy when the world can look at our life
And not see the benefit of Jesus all over us.
It is terrible for you or I to live so much like the world
That they can’t see that Jesus does anything more for us
Than Allah does for Muslims or Buddha does for Buddhists, etc.
Instead the world ought to be blown away with the way Jesus treats us.
They ought to see you walk by faith
And Jesus come through time after time after time
Until they are forced to say, “He is their help and their shield.”
This has been the way God’s people have been intended to walk.
Remember when those 3 Hebrew boys faced the flame?
• Remember them giving God opportunity to show His loyalty?
• Remember Nebuchadnezzar after God delivered?
Daniel 3:28 “Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God.”
Remember when Daniel faced the den of lions?
• Remember how he stepped out in faith and let God deliver?
• Remember Darius after God delivered?
Daniel 6:20-22 “When he had come near the den to Daniel, he cried out with a troubled voice. The king spoke and said to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel spoke to the king, “O king, live forever! “My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths and they have not harmed me, inasmuch as I was found innocent before Him; and also toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”
Remember when the early church was threatened to stop preaching the resurrection?
Acts 4:23-31 “When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE, AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS? ‘THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND, AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.’ “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”
Remember when Paul was on a ship in the middle of the storm?
Acts 27:21-26 “When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. “But we must run aground on a certain island.”
And we could go on.
But you get the point.
GOD IS LOYAL TO HIS PEOPLE – HE CARES FOR THEM!
But if the world is going to see it
Then you are going to have to trust Him
And give Him the opportunity.
And He deserves that opportunity!
“Not to us, O LORD, not us, But to Your name give glory”
