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Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake.
Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?
But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:
They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat.
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.
The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the LORD, both small and great.
The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.
Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.
The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

115:1 not unto us. The repetition of these words stresses the importance of acknowledging that glory belongs only to the Lord. Even mighty angels emphasize this truth (Revelation 22:8-9). It is inappropriate for God’s servants on earth to seek glory for themselves (Jeremiah 9:23-24; I Corinthians 1:27,29-31). “For men to search their own glory is not glory” (Proverbs 25:27).


115:8 like unto them. Those who construct substitutes for the true God of creation—whether metal images with their hands (Psalm 115:4) or mental imaginings with their minds—are not only blasphemous but foolish, for such “idols” (i.e., “vanities”) are unable to save.


115:16 are the LORD’s. For this present age at least, the earth (including, possibly, the solar system, though this is very doubtful) has been placed under man’s dominion. There is no evidence whatever in either science or Scripture that intelligent beings (other than angels) exist in other worlds. It is expensive foolishness to attempt to reach such worlds in space ships or to communicate with them via radio astronomy. Such projects make man more vulnerable than ever to demonic deception by the Satanic “principalities,...powers,...rulers of the darkness of this world,” and “spiritual wickedness in (the heavenly realms)” (Ephesians 6:12), that the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2) is using so effectively today.


115:17 The dead praise not. This verse might at first imply that death terminates our ability to praise the Lord, but the next verse assures us that death is not the end, for “we will bless the LORD....for evermore” (Psalm 115:18).


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