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.
I wonder how many times the world looks at the faith of a Christian and wonders, "Where is their God?" When cancer has taken over even through righteous prayers, when finances hit rock bottom even through faithful stewardship, where is their God? When Christians are praying for leaders and they make terrible decisions, when the economy of a free nation is crumbling, where is their God?
Our God is in the heavens and he does all that he pleases!
Things are not as they seem. God is working all of this out according to his pleasure, and we know that his pleasure is to do ultimate good for His people (Romans 8:28). The world cannot possibly see this without eyes of faith, so they are forced to try to make something good for themselves.
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.
Don't be fooled, idols (things that we use to make us feel like things are good when they don't look so good) cannot DO anything. But they sure LOOK like they can. I love this description of idols! They have mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands, feet, throats. To the untrained eye they look pretty handy. But, in reality, they are completely USELESS! They cannot do anything for us. And when we begin to trust in them, we become like them, USELESS!
The world is producing idols at a frantic pace, desperate for something to fill the void. They are spending all of their time and energy on these useless idols, wasting their lives away. We possess the only thing that can save their wasted lives, the gospel of Jesus. And sometimes we are so enchanted by the world's beautiful idols that we are stumbling around useless like everyone else.
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;
Lord, help us to wait on your blessing, and stop fiddling around with these useless idols. Help us to trust in you and lift you up so that the world can see the One who is more beautiful than anything we can make. Allow us to see your beauty and your worth everyday so that we can see the folly of all of these idols in our hearts! Don't let us be fooled by thinking that if we make a really cool idol, we can attain some kind of glory. It will not fulfill. Only when we give all of the glory to you, will we be lifted up!
For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. (Mark 8:35)
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