seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Psalm 115:1 Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.
2 Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
4 But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk,
nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
8 Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
9 All you Israelites, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
he is their help and shield.
10 House of Aaron, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
11 You who fear him, trust in the Lord—
he is their help and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us:
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.
He will bless his people Israel,
he will bless the house of Aaron,
13 he will bless those who fear the Lord—
small and great alike.
14 May the Lord cause you to flourish,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 The highest heavens belong to the Lord,
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
but the earth he has given to mankind.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who go down to the place of silence;
18 it is we who extol the Lord,
both now and forevermore.
Praise the Lord.[a]
a. Psalm 115:18 Hebrew Hallelu Yah
What in the world is verse 17 talking about....????? Apparently this verses says that people in hell are silent.... boy what a way to shut someone up!
This is from the easy English commentary.
We do not know who wrote Psalm 115. And we do not know when they wrote it. It was a time when there were not many Jews. But there were a lot of enemies. Perhaps it was before the exile. The exile was when Assyria or Babylon took them away from their own country. Perhaps it was when they came back to their own country. We do not know.
But the psalm tells people to trust in the LORD. This means, believe what the LORD says, and wait until he sends you help. "He is their help" in verses 9, 10 and 11 mean "he will send you help". We learn what the LORD says when we read the Bible.
The important thing that the psalm teaches us is this: there is only one God. All other gods are man-made, and cannot do anything to send us help.
In verse 1, LORD is a special name for God. It is the covenant name for God. A covenant is when two people (or groups of people) agree. Here the*covenant is with God and the people of Israel. The verse says that God must keep the glory for himself. He should not give some of it to his people. "Glory" is a "big shining". Here it means all the good things that people say about God.
In verse 2, people are saying "Where is their God?" The people are those who do not believe. They do not believe that there is a God. So they say, "Where is God?" or "What is God doing to show that he is really alive?" The answer is in verse 3. God is in heaven ... the home of God. And he is doing everything that he wants to do!
Verses 4 - 8 tell us about idols. An idol is a god that people make. It is not a true god. Often people make it from wood. But it cannot speak or see. It cannot hear or smell. It cannot walk or make any sound. People make it from gold and silver. Silver is like gold, very valuable. People that have idols will become like them.
Verses 9 - 11 are about trusting in the*LORD. To "trust" is "to believe that the LORD will send you help because he loves you". The people of Israel and the people of Aaron are the Jews. But verse 11 says "everyone" ... and that includes us! "In awe" means "a bit afraid of someone that you love". "Their help" in verse 9 means "the person that gives them help". And the shield is something that stops an enemy hurting them. A shield was something a soldier used. He held it over his body, so that it stopped things hitting him.
In verses 12 - 16 we read about the LORD blessing people. The word "bless" now means "do good things to". But in Bible times, it meant "have many children". So in verse 14 "the LORD will give you more" means more children. Also, he will give more children to your children!
In verses 17 - 18 we read about "praise" and the "Quiet Place". "Praise" means "tell someone that they are great". So "praise the LORD" means "tell the LORD that he is great". Dead people cannot praise the LORD, because they are in the Quiet Place. This is another name for Sheol. The Jews believed that you went to Sheol when you died. You could not praise God in Sheol. "We will bless the LORD now and always" means "Jews will always bless the LORD and praise him". But we know now that we will always praise the LORD ... if we love Jesus!
This is from studylight.org.The dead praise not the Lord - The meaning of this is, that as those who are dead cannot praise God, or cannot worship him, this should be done while we are in the land of the living. This opportunity, like all other opportunities, will be cut off in the grave, and hence, we should be faithful in this duty, and should avail ourselves of this privilege, while life lasts.
Neither any that go down into silence - Into the grave - the land of silence. Psalm 94:17. Nothing is more impressive in regard to the grave than its utter silence. Not a voice, not a sound, is heard there - of birds or human beings - of song or conversation - of the roaring of the sea, the sighing of the breeze, the fury of the storm, the tumult of battle. Perfect stillness reigns there; and the first sound that shall be heard there will be the archangel‘s trump.
Back in the garden.... God walked with Adam.... they talked.... Adam loved everything about Eden.... Adam loved God..... a mutual admiration society.....
Sorry.... gotta revert back to that study on Job for a minute. Job complained that when God took his children.... [actually satan did but Job doesn't know about satan] God took his future. Back then.... before someone could stamp their identity all over social media.... kids were the only way to keep a name going..... Everyone was the son or daughter of someone else..... Job said losing his kids was like having his reputation stolen.
Here.... In verses 12-16 it says that when we are blessed.... we have more children..... we have more people to talk us up.....
And then in verses 17-18.... it says people in hell don't praise God.
