BIBLE CHAPTER STUDY
Psalms 115 — Glory to God's Name Alone
Psalm 115 refuses self-glory, mocks idols that cannot speak or act, and calls every class of worshiper to trust the LORD who blesses, remembers, and alone deserves praise.
Scripture
1Not unto us, O Jehovah, not unto us, But unto thy name give glory, For thy lovingkindness, and for thy truth's sake.
2Wherefore should the nations say, Where is now their God?
3But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
4Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands.
5They have mouths, but they speak not; Eyes have they, but they see not;
6They have ears, but they hear not; Noses have they, but they smell not;
7They have hands, but they handle not; Feet have they, but they walk not; Neither speak they through their throat.
8They that make them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them.
9O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield.
10O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield.
11Ye that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield.
12Jehovah hath been mindful of us; He will bless us: He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.
13He will bless them that fear Jehovah, Both small and great.
14Jehovah increase you more and more, You and your children.
15Blessed are ye of Jehovah, Who made heaven and earth.
16The heavens are the heavens of Jehovah; But the earth hath he given to the children of men.
17The dead praise not Jehovah, Neither any that go down into silence;
18But we will bless Jehovah From this time forth and for evermore. Praise ye Jehovah.
What this passage means
The psalm opens by redirecting all credit away from Israel: 'Not unto us, O Jehovah, not unto us' (v. 1). Glory belongs to God's 'name' on the basis of His steadfast love (Hebrew checed) and truth. This sets the theological axis for the chapter — the honor of God, not the reputation of His people, is the proper aim of worship.
vv. 2–8 answer the implied taunt of the nations, 'Where is now their God?' by exposing the impotence of idols. The repeated list of lifeless body parts (mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands, feet) is a satirical anatomy: whatever a worshiper cannot do, his god cannot do either (v. 8). The chapter's central contrast is between a God who 'hath done whatsoever he pleased' (v. 3) and gods who can do nothing at all.
vv. 9–18 widen from Israel and the house of Aaron to 'Ye that fear Jehovah' (v. 11), then narrow again to a personal blessing: 'Jehovah increase you more and more' (v. 14). Because 'the heavens are the heavens of Jehovah; But the earth hath he given to the children of men' (v. 16), the living, not the dead, are the congregation that praises Him — closing with 'we will bless Jehovah from this time forth and for evermore' (v. 18).
Context
Psalm 115 belongs to the collection of Psalms bearing the heading 'A Song of Ascents' tradition, though this particular psalm is commonly paired with 113–118 as a group used in Israel's liturgical praise. The chapter is not narrated in the text as having a single historical occasion; rather it reads as a congregational liturgy moving between a leader's voice and the community's response (vv. 9–11 form a triple call to trust, with vv. 12–13 a priestly or communal response of blessing).
The polemic against idols (vv. 4–8) draws on a satirical portrait also found in passages such as Isaiah 46 and Jeremiah 10, though Psalm 115 presents it in concentrated, almost creedal form. The closing verses (16–18) distinguish God's ownership of heaven from His gift of the earth to humanity — a distinction that frames the call to ongoing, earthly praise.
Key words in the original
- H2617 chesed (steadfast love), v. 1. The reason given for why glory should go to God's name — His covenant loyalty. The psalm grounds God's claim to honor not in power alone but in covenant faithfulness.
- H2654 chaphets (pleases/desires), v. 3. The word describes God's free volition: 'He hath done whatsoever he pleased.' Combined with the idol polemic, it asserts that the living God acts according to His will, in contrast to idols that act not at all.
- H6091 atsab (idols/idol-images), v. 4. Used here for the manufactured gods of the nations. The term carries the sense of something fashioned with labor, which sets up the contrast between the Creator God and crafted objects.
Related verses
- Psalms 135:6 Pairs with Psalm 115:3 in affirming God's unrestrained freedom to act 'in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps' — reinforcing the psalm's claim that the living God does whatever pleases Him.
- Isaiah 48:11 Echoes Psalm 115:1's refusal of self-glory. God acts 'for mine own sake' and refuses to give His glory to another — the same principle that grounds the psalm's 'Not unto us.'
- Psalms 8:6 Resonates with Psalm 115:16's distinction: while heaven belongs to Jehovah, the earth is given to the children of men, who are appointed to have dominion over God's works.
Common questions
Why does Psalm 115 begin with 'Not unto us' twice?
The doubled refusal emphasizes the completeness of the renunciation. All credit for deliverance belongs to God's name on the basis of His steadfast love and truth (v. 1), not to Israel's reputation before the nations.
Who is included in 'Ye that fear Jehovah' (v. 11)?
The chapter addresses three concentric groups: Israel (v. 9), the house of Aaron the priesthood (v. 10), and 'Ye that fear Jehovah' (v. 11). The third phrase widens the call to all worshipers who revere the LORD, beyond ethnic Israel and its priests, and the subsequent blessing (vv. 12–13) names 'small and great' together.
Why does v. 17 say the dead cannot praise Jehovah?
The verse distinguishes the realm of the dead ('silence') from the living congregation on earth. Since 'the earth hath he given to the children of men' (v. 16), ongoing praise is the vocation of the living, which is why the psalm resolves with the vow to bless the LORD 'from this time forth and for evermore' (v. 18).