The text: Psalm 115 – NRSV
The Hebrew prophets had two chief concerns: idolatry and social injustice. Idolatry is simply the worship of anything that is not God. As such it is a clear violation of the first two of the Ten Commandments: You shall have no other gods before me, and in case that wasn’t clear, you shall not make for yourself an idol. It should not surprise us that Paul opens the body of his letter to the Romans with this very topic: They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. There is the crux: worshipping the creature rather than the Creator. Setting up anything or anyone as our “god” is one of our greatest failings and most destructive temptations, particularly when one of our “gods” turns out to be ourselves. The question is not whether we do it (because we all have and continue to), but what or who our idols are.
To me Psalm 115 is a wisdom or instructional Psalm. It does not merely identify the problem, but also shows us the way out. Stay a while in verses 3-8, and allow the Psalm to ask you the questions. Who has a mouth but does not speak? Who has eyes but does not see? (Does that remind you of the man born blind and the accusing Pharisees in John 9?) What does this teach us? Watch out for verse 8… Ouch.
Perhaps you have an idol or two to unload this Lent. I know I do. How can you let the second half of the Psalm be your song this season and show you a better way?
Oh, and what about social injustice? Yep. Don’t worry. Stay tuned. 😉
Curious about this series of posts? Read the initial post.
Want to catch up on any you missed? See them all by clicking on “Lenten Psalms” below.
