What is the meaning of Psalm 115:6? They have ears, but cannot hear Psalm 115:6 opens by exposing the hollowness of idols: “They have ears, but cannot hear.” These so-called gods may be carved with careful detail, yet they remain stone-silent before every cry. • Contrast with the living God: “The LORD has heard my plea” (Psalm 6:9) and “His ear is inclined to me” (Psalm 116:2). • Elijah mocked Baal’s deafness on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:27); only the LORD answered with fire (1 Kings 18:38). • Isaiah’s satire rings the same note: idols “cannot answer or save” (Isaiah 46:7). • The point is not merely that idols fail to respond; it is that they never could. Their appearance tricks the heart into expecting help that will never come. • For every believer, the verse calls us to examine anything we might lean on—wealth, success, human approval—and remember that only the God who speaks and hears can truly sustain us (James 5:4; 1 John 5:14-15). They have noses, but cannot smell The second phrase deepens the indictment: “they have noses, but cannot smell.” In Scripture, smell is tied to awareness and relational response. The living God “smelled the pleasing aroma” of Noah’s sacrifice (Genesis 8:21) and responded with covenant grace. Idols, by contrast, sense nothing; they are unresponsive to worship and indifferent to suffering. • Psalm 135:17 repeats the charge verbatim, stressing the utter lifelessness of man-made gods. • Jeremiah 10:5 says they “cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” Their blank incapacity undercuts every hope pinned on them. • Sacrifices offered to lifeless statues become empty ritual, while offerings to the LORD are received and treasured (Leviticus 2:2; Philippians 4:18). • The text therefore warns: devotion poured toward anything dead—whether literal idols or modern substitutes—returns nothing. Only the living Lord senses, delights in, and answers His people’s worship (2 Corinthians 2:15; Ephesians 5:2). summary Psalm 115:6 exposes idols as powerless illusions: they possess crafted ears and noses yet remain forever deaf and oblivious. The verse urges us to abandon every lifeless substitute and cling to the God who hears our prayers, receives our worship, and actively moves for our good. |
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