What is the meaning of Psalm 135:15? The idols of the nations - Scripture repeatedly stresses that any deity other than the LORD is an idol, empty of life and power. Psalm 96:5 reminds us, “For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens”. - Exodus 20:3-4 lays down the foundational command: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…”. The psalmist echoes this covenant demand, contrasting nations that craft gods with the God who crafts nations. - Psalm 115:4-8 expands on the futility: idols have mouths that cannot speak and eyes that cannot see. The same wording there (“Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men”) links the two psalms, reinforcing the theme that idolatry is universal outside the covenant community. - Jeremiah 10:3-5 paints the cultural picture: people cut a tree, adorn it with silver and gold, and then bow down to what they just assembled. Psalm 135:15 therefore serves as a concise indictment of human-made worship objects adopted by “the nations,” that is, all people groups who do not know the living God. are silver and gold - Precious metals signal value and allure, yet value does not equal divinity. 1 Timothy 6:10 warns that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil”; idolatry often begins with misdirected desire for what glitters. - Matthew 6:19-21 tells believers to store treasure in heaven, not on earth. Even the finest silver and gold fail the ultimate durability test. - Habakkuk 2:18 asks, “What value is an idol carved by a craftsman…? It teaches lies”. The point: beauty and expense cannot compensate for lifelessness. - Thus the psalm underscores irony: nations pour their wealth into objects that have no wealth of spirit, while the true God offers eternal riches freely (Isaiah 55:1). made by the hands of men - The phrase exposes the core problem—humanity creating its own objects of worship. Isaiah 44:13-20 offers a vivid scene: a craftsman cuts down a tree, uses half for firewood, then fashions the rest into a god and prays to it. - Acts 17:24-25 affirms the opposite truth: “The God who made the world and everything in it… does not live in temples made by human hands. Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything”. - Revelation 9:20 laments that people “did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood”. The phrase “works of their hands” mirrors Psalm 135:15, showing the persistent human inclination to craft gods rather than submit to the Creator. - Psalm 135’s wording highlights the total dependence of idols on human effort: if people stop carving, melting, polishing, the idols cease to exist. In sharp contrast, the LORD existed before creation and sustains all things without human assistance (Psalm 90:2; Colossians 1:17). summary Psalm 135:15 exposes idolatry in three swift strokes: the objects are embraced by the nations, adorned with costly metals, and fashioned by human hands. Together these phrases declare that anything worshipped apart from the living God is powerless, no matter how widespread, expensive, or skillfully crafted. Believers are therefore called to reserve allegiance for the Creator alone, trusting Him rather than the glittering but lifeless products of human ingenuity. |
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