Idols of the Heart: Psalm 115

 ¹ Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

 ² Why do the nations say,
“Where is their God?”

 ³ Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.

⁴ But their idols are silver and gold,
made by human hands.

⁵ They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see.

⁶ They have ears, but cannot hear,
noses, but cannot smell.

⁷ They have hands, but cannot feel,
feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats.
⁸ Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.

 Psalm 115 was reassuring Israel how much greater their faith in God was compared to the foolish worship of something made by the hands of men. The Psalm starts by stating the grief that Israel was given by other nations, such as Assyria and Babylon, at various times for worshipping a God that could not be seen. They mocked Israel by taunting, “Where is your God?” The other nations observed their suffering and came to the conclusion that not only can Israel’s God not be seen, but He also does not care about their well-being. The Psalm then assures Israel that their God is in fact alive and active, unlike the idols made by the hands of men. “He does whatever He pleases.” The psalmist is not implying that God is a ruthless dictator, but rather He is showing God’s sovereignty and the power of God’s plans--even if they don’t make sense to man. The psalmist continues to explain the worthlessness of worshiping idols.  They are made by the hands of men and therefore had no power. They are mere carvings and nothing more.

          In the present age, idols are everywhere, enticing teenagers in our society.  Most of the time we do not even notice them, but an idol is anything that we put above God. Our first response to this statement would be, “Nothing, of course. We know that God is above all things.” But do we put him above everything else in our lives? There are so many things that can become idols to us, and most of them are not bad. Internet, friends, food, clothing, money, popularity, school. These things can be positive and fun. The problem arises when we put these things in front of spending time with God.  How often do we dwell on these things compared to how often we dwell on God and His Word?

Actually, idols can even arise when studying and preaching God’s Word. If we spend much of our time studying and debating theology, but we forget about God’s grace and love, then theology becomes an idol of the heart. If we dedicate our lives to a ministry such as helping the poor, but we get so caught up in ministry that our work is no longer a result of our own abiding relationship with Christ, ministry becomes an idol. This is not to say that theology and ministry are bad in and of themselves. These become sinful if we put them above our God and his love and mercy. Only then do they become idols of our hearts.

God doesn’t ask for a portion of our hearts, He requires our entire heart. Our God is jealous for us. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”  God commands us to surrender our entire heart, but we can’t give our hearts to him if there are other people and items in our lives to which we are too emotionally attached. When we take time to consider God’s power and love for us compared to the temporary pleasure we get from earthly gifts, we should be ashamed. How could we ever consider putting other things in front of our almighty God who loves us for eternity? In this Psalm the other nations mocked Israel because they could not see their God. A reason it is easy to put others above God in our lives is because we tend to forget God.  God is clearly seen through creation and His Word, but even Christians tend to focus on “man made idols.” We do this simply because it can be easier to rely on and love something that can be seen or touched--even if that “something” has no real glory.

 Idols of our hearts are incredibly burdensome.  There have been several times in my own life when, as I pray or do my devotions, my mind wanders. I start to think about something or someone besides God. When I catch myself doing this, I feel guilty and ashamed that, even with my personal time with God, these idols entangle my heart. This troubled me for a while. I remembered Eustace in C.S Lewis’ book “The Voyage of the Dawntreader.” I remembered the powerful scene when Eustace turned into a dragon, and Aslan stripped him of his scales until he was once again human. I prayed that God would strip me of the idols in my heart. Although it would involve pain and it would be a hard process, I prayed that God would extract the idols from my heart that were firmly entangled through and around it. Since God is a faithful God and because He loves me, He has been working in my heart to help me make Him first in every situation of life. If you belong to God and you feel ashamed because of what you put first in your life, remember God’s love. Don’t let your guilt make you want to avoid Him. Rather come to God with your guilt, confess your idols to God, and ask Him to tear from your heart everything besides Him. Although it may be hard and painful, always remember God’s love. The first verse of this Psalm says, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory,because of your love and faithfulness.” Trust that God will be loving and faithful and that, if you ask, he will help you with the idols in your heart--even if the process is long and painful.

                                                                                

No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1^st Corinthians 10:13