McKay Vandenberg: Today, as we continue in our reading of the Psalms, we're going be in Psalms one thirty five. And the passage says, praise the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Praise him, you who serve the Lord. You who serve in the house of the Lord and the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good. Celebrate his lovely name with music. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel for his own special treasure. I know the greatness of the Lord that our Lord is greater than any other God. The Lord does whatever pleases him throughout all heaven and earth and on the seas and in their depths.
He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and relent and releases the winds from his storehouses. He destroyed the firstborn in each Egyptian home, both people and animals. He performed miraculous signs and wonders in Egypt against Pharaoh and all his people. He struck down great nations and slaughtered mighty kings.
She Shihan king of the Amorites, Og king of Bashan, all the kings of Canaan. He gave their lands as an inheritance, a special possession to his people Israel. Your name, O Lord, endures forever. Your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants.
The idols of the nations are merely things of silver and gold shaped by human hands. They have mouths but cannot speak and eyes but cannot see. They have ears but cannot hear and mouths but cannot breathe. And those who make idols are just like them, all who are as all who trust in them. Oh, Israel, praise the Lord.
Oh, priests, descendants of Aaron, praise the Lord. Oh, Levites, praise the Lord. All you who fear the Lord, praise the Lord. The Lord will be praised from Zion for he lives here in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.
There's a lot in that passage that can be a little bit jarring talking about slaughtering enemies and destroying, entire generations of people. But I really find a lot of comfort in verses thirteen and fourteen that says, your name, oh Lord, endures forever. Your fame, oh Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will give justice to his people and have compassion on his servants. I think this entire Psalm is really a reflection on just God's justice, how he's delivered the people of Israel from some terrible situations and still been faithful to them even though they've made bad decisions at this point.
Verses 15 through 18 also talk about idols and the way those things are pretty meaningless. It talks about mouths but not being able to speak, ears but not being able to hear, all these kinds of things that kind of highlights the point of when you put your faith in these idols, there's nothing they can do for you. But the one true living God is faithful to his people and faithful to those that follow his commands for their lives. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we are all prone to making our own idols in our lives, whether it be comfort, whether it be something monetary, whether it just be the things that we see others have.
Lord, remind us today that those idols can do nothing for us, but that you offer a true life of forgiveness, of love, of grace, and mercy for those around us. Lord, as we struggle to navigate some of these things, remind us of your justice, your timely justice for when we need it, and the patience we may need as we await some of that. Lord, we thank you for everything we have in our lives. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.