Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 2-119 Sunday 16 Jun 2002

Reading: Psalm 115 – HIS REPUTATION

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

‘Not to us, O Lord, but to your name be the glory’.(v 1)

In this psalm, everything occurs in multiples of three. The psalm itself is in three parts. The first section (vs 1-8) compares Israel’s God with the idolatry of other nations, whose idols are characterised by six degrees of impotence. The middle section (vs 9- 11) contains a threefold invitation for Israel, its spiritual leaders, and all who fear God to ‘trust in the Lord’. The final section (vs 12-18) offers six accounts of blessing experienced by God’s people, countering the sixfold incompetence of idolatry. Here we also discover that creation is divided into three realms: the heavens, the earth, and the underworld.

This is simply artful packaging for a profound spiritual struggle. Verse 2 provides a clue to the underlying situation, as the psalmist complains, ‘Why should the nations say “Where is their God?”‘ In Israel’s history, pagan nations often threatened to overwhelm God’s people. As the psalmist sees it, the real threat is not just to his nation’s sovereignty and security but to the reputation of Israel’s Lord. For if ‘the nations’ triumph, they will view it as a victory for the idols they worship. And God’s chosen people, descending to the silence of death, will become as mute and futile as the idols themselves (v 17).

Against this threat, the psalmist declares that God still reigns in the heavens, and ‘does whatever pleases him’ (v 3). This does not mean that God is either capricious or arbitrary: on the contrary, the psalmist repeatedly insists that ‘the Lord remembers us and will bless us’ (v 12). Thus we may trust God as ‘our help and shield’ (v 10) because he is mindful not only of his creatures, but also of his own good name.

Pray as Jesus taught us: ‘Father, sanctify your name.’

– Rev Dr Michael Knowles

Copyright Scripture Union, 2002

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