thinking bible.

You asked

what competing 'gods' or ultimate authorities do people look to for order and meaning today?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Psalm 115:3-8

But our God is in the heavens: he does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they don't speak. They have eyes, but they don't see. They have ears, but they don't hear. They have noses, but they don't smell. They have hands, but they don't feel. They have feet, but they don't walk. Neither do they speak through their throat. Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them.

Psalm 115 is a communal prayer or liturgy, likely sung in the temple, where the community appeals to God for help and praises his power, contrasting him with the powerless idols of the surrounding nations.

What does this passage reveal about where we place our ultimate trust for what we hope will bring order and meaning to our lives?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Isaiah 44:9-20

    This passage vividly describes the folly of idol-making, pointing out the absurdity of worshipping something fashioned by human hands.

  • Romans 1:21-25

    Paul describes how humanity exchanged the worship of the Creator for created things, reflecting the same tendency to revere what is not God.

  • Matthew 6:24

    Jesus speaks directly about the impossibility of serving two masters, God and 'mammon' (wealth), highlighting competing loyalties.

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