Homilist Psalm 115:1-18 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your mercy, and for your truth's sake.… I. A consciousness of GOD'S GREATNESS LEADING TO A CONTEMPT FOR ALL IDOLS. 1. The majesty of God. (1) God is great in His moral excellence (ver. 1). "Mercy" and "truth" lie at the foundation of all moral greatness. The grand mission of Christ was to bring these into the world in the most impressive forms. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth by Jesus Christ." All sound beliefs or convictions are based on truth or reality. Without love all is selfishness, and selfishness is the essence of sin. Without truth all is sham, and sham is the curse of the world. In God these two exist in essential unity and in infinite perfection. (2) God is great in His sovereignty (ver. 3). He is over all. There is no being above Him, the highest are infinitely below Him, and in all His operations He is absolutely free. He hath no counsellor to teach Him new methods of action, no power to restrain Him in any course. He acts according to His own good pleasure, the only being who is absolutely free, independent, and irresponsible. 2. The worthlessness of idols (vers. 4-8). (1) Material productions. (2) Human productions. (3) Worth. less productions. (4) Lying productions. (5) Symbolic productions. They are but the visible forms of the brutish ignorance, stupidity, and depravity of those who made and worshipped them, mere embodiments of their ideas and wishes. II. A consciousness of GOD'S GOODNESS INSPIRING THE HIGHEST PHILANTHROPY. What is the highest philanthropy? That whose main object is to draw men to the One True and Living God; and the man who is conscious of God's goodness, who has "tasted and seen that the Lord is good," will surely address himself to this work — the work of drawing men to God (Romans 10:1). This is what the psalmist felt (vers. 9-15). III. A consciousness of GOD'S PROPERTY LEADING TO A SENSE OF OUR STEWARDSHIP (ver. 16). He who created the universe owns it, is is His absolute property, and how vast, how immeasurable it is! (1 Chronicles 29:11). But this sense of God's unbounded wealth leads to the impression of our stewardship of the earth which He hath given us. To the "children of men," not to a class, but given to them as air and light, and fire and water are given for their common use. IV. A consciousness of LIFE'S TERMINATION URGING THE DISCHARGE OF RELIGIOUS DUTY (vers. 17, 18). (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. |
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