The big picture
Psalm 115 answers the question “Where is now their God?” without producing an object for inspection. The Book of Psalms contrasts a God who acts freely from heaven with idols whose impressive materials and humanlike features accomplish absolutely nothing. Mouths cannot speak, eyes cannot see, ears cannot hear, hands cannot handle, and feet cannot walk. The satire is followed by a repeated practical answer: trust the LORD because he is help and shield. Israel, Aaron’s house, and all who fear him are included, small and great. The final contrast returns to speech. Lifeless images have throats that cannot make a sound, while living people declare that they will bless the LORD. The issue is not visibility versus invisibility. It is powerless appearance versus effective action.
Central truth
Psalm 115 denies glory to the worshipers, mocks idols that possess organs but no powers, calls Israel to trust the living Creator, and ends by choosing present, living praise.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
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.”
Slow down at the turning point
Psalms 115:3: “But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”
Keep this word trail visible
LORD, bless, help, house, shield, trust
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Psalms 115:1-3
Not unto us
Start with the refusal of glory: “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us”. Explain that this is the opposite of national pride; the worshipers ask God to act for his own name, mercy and truth. Then comes the taunt of the nations, “Where is now their God?”, and the answer, that he is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases. Teach this first so that the mockery of idols in the next step rests on humility rather than a sense of superiority.
Psalms 115:4-8
Idols with organs and no powers
Read the list slowly and let the humour land: mouths that do not speak, eyes that do not see, and ears, noses, hands and feet that do nothing. Explain that the idols are “silver and gold, the work of men’s hands”, made by people who then bow to them. Then read verse 8, the sting: makers and trusters become like them. Teach this carefully. The target is the idol and the trust placed in it, not the dignity of people of other faiths.
Psalms 115:9-11
Trust, three times
Now the call to trust, three times over: to Israel, to the house of Aaron and to those who fear the Lord. Each time the reason is the same, “he is their help and their shield”. Explain that this may have been sung responsively, a leader calling and a choir answering. The third group may include Gentiles who had come to fear the Lord. Teach it here because the answer to dead idols is not an argument but trust in the living God.
Psalms 115:12-16
The Lord remembers and blesses
Then the response: “The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us”. The blessing reaches the same three groups, “both small and great” (115:13), and their children (115:14). Verse 15 names him maker of heaven and earth, and verse 16 says the heavens are his while the earth is given to human beings. Explain the stewardship this implies. This step shows that the living God, unlike the idols, actually acts for his people.
Psalms 115:17-18
The dead are silent; we will bless
End with the contrast: the dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence. Explain that the psalm speaks from the earth, where praise is spoken aloud, and that the Old Testament often pictures death as silence, with fuller hope given later in Scripture. Then the decision: “But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore”. Close by asking the group to make that decision their own, and finish with the last “Praise the LORD”.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
“This psalm lets us mock people of other religions.”
The psalm satirises idols, objects of silver and gold (115:4), and it begins by refusing glory to Israel itself (115:1). Its warning in 115:8 applies to anyone who trusts what they have made, including God's own people, as Israel's history shows. Teach the satire as a warning about misplaced trust, and treat neighbours of every faith with respect.
“Idols are only statues, so this does not apply to us.”
Anything made by human hands and trusted in place of God works as an idol: money, status, technology, a nation, a reputation. 115:8 says “every one that trusteth in them” becomes like them. Ask the group which modern things have mouths that cannot speak a word of life and eyes that cannot see a person's need.
“God is invisible, so he must be absent.”
That is the taunt of 115:2, “Where is now their God?” The answer is 115:3: he is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases. An idol can be seen but cannot act; God cannot be seen but acts everywhere. His invisibility shows that he is greater than anything made, not that he has gone away.
“Verse 17 means there is no life after death.”
The verse speaks of the dead from the viewpoint of the earth: they are not among the congregation praising God. The Old Testament often describes death as silence, and Scripture gives fuller light later, in passages such as Daniel 12:2 and in the resurrection of Jesus. Do not build a doctrine of the afterlife on this verse; read it as a call for the living to praise while they can.
Learning objectives
- Explain the opening refusal of self-glory.
- Trace the idol’s useless body parts.
- Connect makers and trusters with their idols.
- Identify the three groups called to trust.
- Trace the matching blessing section.
- Explain the contrast between silent dead and living praise.
Teacher preparation
- Mark the repeated “not unto us” before anything is said about idols.
- List each idol feature: mouth, eyes, ears, nose, hands, feet, throat, and the missing action attached to each.
- Notice the progression Israel, house of Aaron, those who fear the Lord in verses 9–11.
- Match those trust groups with the blessing language in verses 12–13.
- Prepare to explain idol satire without using it as permission to mock people from other religions.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Verses 4–7 explicitly describe idols as human workmanship with body parts that cannot perform their supposed functions.
Scripture-supported
Verses 9–11 support the trust refrain by naming the Lord repeatedly as help and shield for Israel, priests, and all who fear him.
Strong inference
Verse 8 strongly implies worship shapes the worshiper: makers and trusters become like the powerless objects of their trust.
Possible or traditional reading
Some interpret verse 17 as a complete doctrine of the afterlife; the psalm’s immediate contrast is between the silent realm of death and the living community praising God now.
Limit
Psalm 115 does not say human artistry is evil. The target is crafted objects treated as gods and trusted for what only the living Lord can do.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. Why does the psalm begin “Not unto us”?
What a good answer contains
Because glory belongs to God and not to his people. “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake” (115:1). The double not unto us is emphatic. A good answer sees that the worshipers begin by refusing credit, that the reasons for God's glory are his mercy and truth, and that all this comes before any word about idols. A weak answer reads the psalm as a contest between Israel and the nations.
Show teacher guidance
Before criticizing idols, worshipers refuse to claim glory and place it on God’s name, mercy, and truth.
2. How does verse 3 answer “Where is now their God”?
What a good answer contains
“But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (115:3). The nations taunt, “Where is now their God?” (115:2), because Israel has no image to point to. The answer is that God is not missing; he is in the heavens and does as he wills. A good answer sees that God's invisibility is a sign of his greatness, not of his absence. A weak answer thinks Israel must prove God exists by some visible sign.
Show teacher guidance
The Lord is in the heavens and acts according to his pleasure, unlike gods confined to manufactured bodies.
3. What is humorous and devastating about verses 5–7?
What a good answer contains
They have every organ and no power. “They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not” (115:5-6), and hands that handle nothing, feet that do not walk, and no sound in the throat (115:7). The humour is in the list; the devastation is that people trust them. A good answer feels both. A weak answer turns it into mockery of people rather than of idols.
Show teacher guidance
The idols have the equipment for speech, sight, hearing, smell, touch, walking, and sound, but none of it works.
4. What happens to those who make and trust idols?
What a good answer contains
“They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them” (115:8). People become like what they worship: blind, deaf, unable to speak or move toward God. A good answer sees the spiritual danger, that misplaced trust shrinks a person, and may link it to Isaiah 44:9-20. A weak answer stops at the idols and does not notice that the verse is about the worshipers.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 8 says they become like them, extending the satire from objects to the spiritual effect of misplaced trust.
5. Who receives the repeated call to trust?
What a good answer contains
Three groups, each with the same refrain: “O Israel, trust thou in the LORD” (115:9), “O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD” (115:10), and “Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD” (115:11), and each time “he is their help and their shield”. The people, the priests, and all who fear God, perhaps including Gentile worshipers. A good answer names the three and the refrain. A weak answer lumps them together and misses the widening circle.
Show teacher guidance
Israel, Aaron’s house, and all who fear the Lord, each hearing that he is help and shield.
6. Why end with “we will bless the LORD”?
What a good answer contains
Because the dead are silent like the idols, and the living choose to speak. “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore” (115:17-18). A good answer sees the contrast with the mute idols: the living worshipers do what neither idols nor the dead can do. A weak answer reads verse 17 as a complete doctrine of the afterlife.
Show teacher guidance
The living worshipers answer silent idols and the silence of death with deliberate praise from now and forever.
Responsible application
Redirect the glory first
Use verse 1 before any critique of false worship so correction begins with humility rather than superiority.
Audit what receives trust
Use verses 4–8 to ask what created things are expected to provide security, identity, or control they cannot truly give.
Answer with living praise
Use verses 17–18 to make praise an active response of the living community rather than a passive religious atmosphere.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
45 minutes
Not unto us
Read 115:1-3 and take questions one and two.
The idol list
Read 115:4-8. Take questions three and four, and confusion one.
Trust, three times
Read 115:9-11 responsively, the teacher calling and the group answering with the refrain. Take question five.
Blessing
Read 115:12-16 and take confusion two. Ask what modern things people trust that cannot help them.
We will bless, and the handout
Read 115:17-18 and take question six. Give out the handout and read the key verse together.
90 minutes
Credit
Ask who usually gets the credit when a church project goes well. Then read 115:1.
Where is now their God
Read 115:1-3 and take questions one and two, then confusion three.
Mouths that do not speak
Read 115:4-8 and Isaiah 44:9-20. Take questions three and four and confusion one.
Modern idols
Take confusion two. Ask small groups to list things people trust today and what each one cannot do.
Help and shield
Read 115:9-11 responsively and take question five.
Small and great
Read 115:12-16 and talk about God's blessing and human stewardship of the earth.
The silence and the song
Read 115:17-18 and take question six and confusion four.
Handout
Give out the handout, read the key verse together, and close by saying 115:18 together.
Adapting the lesson
Children
Bring a doll or a toy robot. Ask: can it see, hear, talk, or walk by itself? Read 115:5-7 and let the children laugh. Then ask whether God can see and hear, and read 115:3 and 115:12. Say that we trust God, who is alive. Avoid saying anything unkind about people who worship differently from us.
Youth
Ask them to list things their generation trusts for meaning or safety. Read 115:4-8 and ask what each thing on the list cannot do. Discuss 115:8, becoming like what you worship. Then read 115:1 and talk about refusing glory for ourselves. Keep respect for people of other faiths clear throughout.
Adults
Adults can explore the satire of Isaiah 44, the responsive shape of verses 9-11, the stewardship of verse 16 and the Old Testament picture of death in verse 17. Spend time on 115:8 and the idols of comfortable lives. Ask how the church can give God the glory instead of seeking it for itself.
One to one
Ask the person what they find themselves trusting most when life is hard. Read 115:8 gently and ask whether that thing has helped them. Then read 115:9-11 with its refrain, he is their help and their shield. Pray together that God would be their help in the very place where they have leaned on something else.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Psalms 115:1–18
The passage in brief
Psalm 115 begins by giving glory to God, not to ourselves. Other nations mock Israel for having no visible god, but the Lord is in heaven and does whatever he pleases. Their idols have mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands and feet, but can do nothing, and those who trust them become like them. So Israel, the priests and all who fear God are called to trust the Lord, their help and shield. He blesses his people, and the living choose to praise him for ever.
A verse to keep
Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
Psalms 115:1 · King James Version
Questions to take home
Why do the worshipers say not unto us in 115:1?
What happens to people who trust idols, according to 115:8?
What do people trust today that cannot speak, see or help?
This week
When someone praises you this week, quietly give the glory to God in prayer.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
