#846 Not To Us Part 1

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! Psalm 115 ESV

A Psalm entreating the honor of God.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory - I try the repetition of this on my own tongue, and it seems, in the meditation, that the latter causes one to contemplate the intent of the former. What has beckoned me into this debate? What has caused me to hold up this sign? The T-shirt or the cross, which will it be? 

- The prayer is evidently tinctured with a consciousness of unworthiness; because of their past unfaithfulness they hardly dared to appeal to the covenant, and to ask blessings for themselves, but they fell back upon the honour of the Lord their God--an old style of argument which their great lawgiver, Moses, had used with such effect when he pleaded, "Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people." Joshua also used the like argument when he said, "What wilt thou do unto thy great name?" In such manner also let us pray when no other plea is available because of our sense of sin; for the Lord is always jealous of his honour, and will work for his name's sake when no other motive will move him. - C. H. Spurgeon

"Where is their God" - Is Fox's Book Of Martyrs evidence against the existence of a God Who cares, Who is Being, Who is intimately acquainted with His creatures? This is not a question posed only by those outside the faith, or maybe more appropriately, outside the building. That question has even reshaped much of what would call itself the church today. If the oracles are carried by those that are suffering, that seem abandoned, is theirs a credible case? We want it to be up for vote, to sway the majority, and call it upon the new popularity. Your sick, where is your God? Your poor, where is your God? If what you say is true, then why has your God left you in this way? God has been reduced in our hearts to the level at which the culture will accept Him. He is a compilation of wise sayings, self help cliches, and "a" way rather than "the" way. 

…2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.… Romans 5: 2-4

Our God is in the heavens, He does all that He pleases - He is where He should be, on His throne, above all things, Sovereign. No disputes of men will settle or unsettle His predetermined will. "If you are the Christ's, the Son of God, then come down from there, and save us too." 

Hello angels, he's suffering, aren't you going to do anything

It was so much easier standing by

I was stronger by your side

But now their staring, watching me

I've gotta go now, before they see

I know, I watched you heal the sick and the lame

But now I hear the rooster calling my name

Calling my name, call my name

But call down angels, your suffering, why won't you say anything

Call down angels, it's belittling, aren't You going to do anything

Calvin "Cheese Grits" Yerke

Their idols are silver and gold - Metals of value to men, but they do not create life, and are subject to the hands they are in. The smith is of infinitely more value than his creation, since he is made in the image of God, and has a soul that cannot be imparted from himself to his idol, his work. All false systems remove value from the person by either denying his Creator or putting up an image or idol in God's place. Wanting something to be true, is considered by many today as the only necessary qualifier for it's being true. I like it, it appeals to me, it looks good, good enough.

How strange that a man should think that he can make a god! Can madness go further? Our God is a spirit, and his hands made the heavens and the earth: well may we worship him, and we need not be disturbed at the sneering question of those who are so insane as to refuse to adore the living God, and yet bow their knees before images of their own carving. We may make an application of all this to the times in which we are now living. The god of modern thought is the creation of the thinker himself, evolved out of his own consciousness, or fashioned according to his own notion of what a god should be. Now, it is evident that such a being is no God. It is impossible that there should be a God at all except the God of revelation. A god who can be fashioned by our own thoughts is no more a God than the image manufactured or produced by our own hands. The true God must of necessity be his own revealer. It is clearly impossible that a being who can be excogitated and comprehended by the reason of man should be the infinite and incomprehensible God. Their idols are blinded reason and diseased thought, the product of men's muddled brains, and they will come to nought. C. H. Spurgeon

Those who make them, become like them - Fakes, knock offs, pretending at being wise, they become fools. They strive at making the gold worth more than themselves. It is mute, and so the only words are their own.

…9This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine. Pass your hand once more like a grape gatherer over the branches.” 10To whom can I give this warning? Who will listen to me? Look, their ears are closed, so they cannot hear. See, the word of the LORD has become offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. 11But I am full of the LORD’s wrath; I am tired of holding it back. “Pour it out on the children in the street, and on the young men gathered together. For both husband and wife will be captured, the old and the very old alike.… Jeremiah 6: 9-11