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Psalms 115
1Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.
2Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”
3But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.
4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
5They have mouths, but they don’t speak. They have eyes, but they don’t see.
6They have ears, but they don’t hear. They have noses, but they don’t smell.
7They have hands, but they don’t feel. They have feet, but they don’t walk, neither do they speak through their throat.
8Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.
9Israel, ! He is their help and their shield.
10House of Aaron, ! He is their help and their shield.
11You who fear the LORD, ! He is their help and their shield.
12The LORD remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
13He will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great.
14May the LORD increase you more and more, you and your children.
15Blessed are you by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
16The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men.
17The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,
18but we will bless the LORD, from this time forward and forever more. Praise the LORD!
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.