EBC Abridged: “The Hallel psalms are found in three separate collections: the “Egyptian Hallel” (113-118), the “Great Hallel” (120-136), and the concluding Hallel psalms (146-150)….The Egyptian Hallel and the Great Hallel were sung during the annual feasts (Lev 23; Nu 10:10). The Egyptian Hallel psalms received a special place in the Passover liturgy, as 113-114 were recited or sung before and 115-118 after the festive meal (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). The concluding Hallel psalms (146-150) were incorporated in the daily prayers in the synagogue after the destruction of the temple (A.D. 70).”
Spurgeon: "In the former psalm the past wonders which God had wrought were recounted to his honour, and in the present psalm he is entreated to glorify himself again, because the heathen were presuming upon the absence of miracles, were altogether denying the miracles of former ages, and insulting the people of God with the question, ‘Where is now their God?’”
Psalms 115:1 ¶ Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
Psalms 115:2 Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
The Psalmist opens by calling for the LORD to do something to demonstrate His glory in testimony of His loving kindness, pity and truth. He doesn’t like hearing the people of other nations wondering where their God is in light of the absence of any recent miracles or obvious works on their behalf.
It appears that the Psalmist is writing during a time when the people of Israel are feeling threatened and being taunted by their enemies.
Psalms 115:3 But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Psalms 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Psalms 115:5 They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
Psalms 115:6 They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
Psalms 115:7 They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
The Psalmist is not questioning God’s presence. He knows that God is on his throne in heaven and that He acts in accordance with His own purposes. Men made the gods of the heathen out of silver and gold. Though they had mouths, they could not speak; though they had eyes, they could not see. They had ears, but could not hear; noses, but could not smell; hands, but could not touch or hold things; feet, but could not walk.
How can any thinking person justify faith in such a god—man-made and powerless!
Chuck Smith: “I need to remember that. ‘He has done what He has pleased.’ May not please me, but that isn’t what’s important.”
Psalms 115:8 They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
The Psalmist goes on to declare that those that make these idols of false gods are just as helpless and foolish as the gods they make. The same is true of every person that trusts in such a false god.
Smith: “A man becomes like his god. That can be the greatest curse in all the world. Or it can be the greatest blessing in all the world. It’s all relative as to who is your god….So you have actually in one side of it, man making a god like himself, infinitely less than himself; and thus, man being degraded as he worships his god. On the other hand, you have God making a man more than himself. More than man could ever be in himself. And thus, the worship of the true and the living God is always an elevating experience as God is conforming you into His image. Making you like Him.”
It’s pretty obvious to me that those who worship false gods are evil because they aren’t connected to the source of love. Their focus is always on self. Their beliefs are the breeding ground for immorality and cruelty. That is because they have no understanding of the truth and love that are rooted in the character of the one true God. Such understanding can only be found in relationship with God. We, today, get that relationship through faith in Jesus.
Galatians 4:4–7 “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”
Wiersbe: “But the greatest tragedy is not what the idols cannot do but what they can do to the people who worship them….Those who worship false gods lose the use of their spiritual senses and become blind to God’s light and deaf to God’s voice.”
Though we cannot see the one true God, evidence testifying to His authority and power abound in creation. One of the greatest testimonies to His greatness is evidenced by the many fulfilled prophecies declared in His word. God tells us this through the words of the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 48:3–7 “I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass. Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them. They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when thou heardest them not; lest thou shouldest say, Behold, I knew them.”
Psalms 115:9 ¶ O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Psalms 115:10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Psalms 115:11 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
The Psalmist calls for the people of Israel, the priests (descended from Aaron) and any other people that fear the LORD (in context, probably addressing the foreigners in Israel who chose to serve God) to hold firm to their trust in the LORD as their provider and defender. God always provides for His own.
Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”
Psalms 34:10 “The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.”
Matthew 6:25–26 “Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work….”
Psalms 115:12 The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
Psalms 115:13 He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
Psalms 115:14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
Sometimes it seems like God has forgotten us. The Psalmist knows this and is reminding all those that fear the LORD that God knows who they are and will bless them—be they rich or poor, famous or unknown—in His time. In fact, He will multiply their descendants and those of their children.
Spurgeon: “Blessing does not impoverish the Lord: he has multiplied his mercies in the past, and he will pour them forth thick and threefold in the future….It is his nature to bless, it is his prerogative to bless, it is his glory to bless, it is his delight to bless; he has promised to bless, and therefore be sure of this, that he will bless and bless and bless without ceasing.”
Psalms 115:15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
The writer notes that the LORD is the creator of heaven and earth. All creation belongs to the LORD, but He made earth especially for people—those created in His image.
Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Psalms 115:17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
Psalms 115:18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.
The psalm closes declaring that the dead cannot praise the LORD from the grave—a place of dead silence. We that live and fear the LORD will praise and adore Him for now and for forever. Hallelujah!
“…and for evermore” - Did the Psalmist understand like Job that those that feared the LORD would live in His presence after death?
Job 19:25–27 “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold….”
EBC Abridged: “The Hallel psalms are found in three separate collections: the “Egyptian Hallel” (113-118), the “Great Hallel” (120-136), and the concluding Hallel psalms (146-150)….The Egyptian Hallel and the Great Hallel were sung during the annual feasts (Lev 23; Nu 10:10). The Egyptian Hallel psalms received a special place in the Passover liturgy, as 113-114 were recited or sung before and 115-118 after the festive meal (cf. Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26). The concluding Hallel psalms (146-150) were incorporated in the daily prayers in the synagogue after the destruction of the temple (A.D. 70).”
In this psalm, the composer is giving thanks and praise to the LORD for healing him.
Psalms 116:1 ¶ I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications.
Psalms 116:2 Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.
“I love the LORD because” alludes to an inescapable truth as expressed by John.
1 John 4:19 “We love him, because he first loved us.”
In this instance the Psalmist declares his love for the the LORD to be rooted in the fact that God had answered his prayers. He had been praying earnestly (from the Hebrew). Because God had answered his prayer (in accordance with his expectation is implied), he was committed to depending upon God in prayer for the rest of his life.
God shows His love to us in so many ways! Answered prayer is just one of those ways. Frankly, however, if my love for God depended upon His answering my prayers according to my expectations, that love would be very fickle. Our love for God should be rooted in who He is, knowing that He will always act for the good, whether that be according to our expectations or not. Our faith in and love for God should be constant—even when it appears that He isn’t listening.
Wiersbe: “Only a God as great as Jehovah can hear the voices of millions of His children who are praying to Him at the same time.”
Psalms 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.
Psalms 116:4 Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
The Psalmist tells us that he felt he was at the point of death; he was drowning in anguish and grief. “Then” he prayed for the LORD to deliver him.
Why did he wait so long? Don’t we often do the same? He should have been talking to the LORD from the very outset. So often our first instinct when we get sick is to go to the doctor; our first appointment should be with the LORD. When we have relationship problems, we tend to seek human counselors for help. Our first thought should be to seek the LORD and ask Him to reveal how we can best honor Him in trying to mend that relationship. Too often, we wait until circumstances become overwhelming before taking our burden to the LORD.
Psalms 116:5 Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.
At this point, the Psalmist begins to praise the LORD. He acknowledges that God is gracious, righteous and merciful. The Hebrew for “gracious” paints a picture of God bending down to show kindness and pity to an inferior. That He is “righteous” is a reference to the fact that He acts justly in accordance with His moral law. The Hebrew for “mercy” states, “to fondle, to love, compassionate.” All of this paints a picture to me of a very loving Father.
Spurgeon: “…the figure seems to be that of a tender physician or loving friend leaning over a sick man whose voice is faint and scarcely audible, so as to catch every accent and whisper.”
Psalms 116:6 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.
The Hebrew for the word “simple” is from a root that refers to one who is easily deceived, enticed or flattered. The Psalmist declares that the LORD watches out for and protects that person that is trusting Him. In fact, he identifies with that person and acknowledges that God rescued him from the depths of his trouble.
Psalms 116:7 Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee.
Psalms 116:8 For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.
Psalms 116:9 I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
It would seem that the Psalmist is giving himself a pep talk in these verses. He is basically telling himself to “return” to a state of rest and quiet in light of what the LORD had done for him. The Psalmist knew what it was like to rest in the LORD from previous experience.
The Psalmist acknowledges that the LORD had provided for him bountifully. This makes me think of the words of Paul to the Ephesians.
Ephesians 3:20 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us….”
I liked this observation from the EBC Abridged: “Only the Lord can change ‘death,’ ‘tears,’ and ‘stumbling’ into a ‘walk before the LORD’ and a joyful celebration of life ‘in the land of the living.’”
Psalms 116:10 ¶ I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted:
Psalms 116:11 I said in my haste, All men are liars.
I liked the translation from the CJB: “I will keep on trusting even when I say,‘I am utterly miserable,’ even when, in my panic, I declare,’ Everything human is deceptive.’”
The Psalmist is being transparent. He is struggling with dealing with his circumstances. It seems he has suffered betrayal from those he loved and/or trusted. In spite of everything, he is determined to keep trusting the LORD. Many would interpret his circumstances to indicate that he was being punished for great sin, as did the friends of Job, never considering that he was being purified and sanctified to the glory of God.
Psalms 116:12 What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?
Psalms 116:13 I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD.
Psalms 116:14 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people.
The Psalmist wonders how he can ever thank the LORD appropriately in light of His many blessings. Obviously, we can never thank God appropriately for all He does for us. So, he pictures lifting up (from Hebrew for “take”) a cup representing his salvation and praising the LORD; I get the picture of what we do when give a toast to someone. He declares publicly that he will make good on every vow he makes to the LORD.
Psalms 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
“Precious” is a reference to something that is valuable, beloved and prized. “Saints” are a reference to godly men and women, evidenced by their kindness, their likeness to Him. God highly prizes each person that enters eternity as part of His family.
How often we hear this verse at funerals and what comfort it brings! I often think of it hand in hand with another verse in Isaiah.
Isaiah 57:1 “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”
God treasures each one of His saints. Sometimes their death is intended to spare them evil lurking in their future. How blessed we are that our Father knows everything, including every detail about our future. Sometimes, and I would dare say always (based on the word of God through Paul), what appears to be bad in the life of the child of God is meant for good.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Wiersbe: “For believers, death is not an accident but an appointment. If the Father pays attention to the death of every sparrow, surely He will be concerned about the death of His saints.”
Matthew 10:29 & 31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father….Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Psalms 116:16 O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.
The Psalmist declares himself a voluntary slave to the LORD, the son of a mother who was also a bondservant to the LORD. What does he mean by saying that God had set him free? It think it means that he had learned that to serve God in love gives one freedom; it provides parameters that ensure His provision and protection.
Psalms 116:17 I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD.
Psalms 116:18 I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people,
Psalms 116:19 In the courts of the LORD’S house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD.
The Psalmist declares his intent to offer his thanksgiving to the LORD just as he would any sacrifice. Again, he publicly declares on the temple grounds in Jerusalem before God’s people that he will make good on every vow he makes to the LORD. Hallelujah!