Psalm 115 begins where healthy worship always begins: not with our reputation, but with God’s glory. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory.” The Psalm then unmasks idols, gathers Israel, Aaron, and all who fear the Lord into one trusting people, and ends by distinguishing the dead from “we, the living,” who bless the Lord from now and forever.
St Augustine reads the opening with strong ascetical clarity: grace is given “that men might not seek any glory of their own, but in the Lord’s Name.” The Psalm therefore becomes both anti-idolatry and anti-vanity. It heals visible paganism, but it also wounds hidden self-worship. The spiritual center is this: true worship transfers glory away from the self, breaks the power of dead substitutes, and restores a living people to praise.
Psalm 115 (LXX 113:9-26) - Not to Us, O Lord, but to Thy Name Give Glory
Psalm Metadata
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| NKJV / Masoretic numbering | Psalm 115 |
| Septuagint / Coptic numbering | Second half of LXX Psalm 113, verses 9-26. NKJV Psalms 114 and 115 are joined as LXX Psalm 113. |
| Accepted author | Alleluia. |
| Period in author’s life | No fixed personal setting is attached; this is liturgical anti-idolatry confession and covenant praise. |
| Christ prophecy status | Christological and ecclesial. The Psalm contrasts dead idols with the living God and culminates in the living praising the Lord, fulfilled in Christ who reveals the Father and restores true worship. |
| Coptic lectionary/service use | Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings. |
| Numbering issue | This note embeds Brenton LXX Psalm 113:9-26 because NKJV Psalms 114 and 115 are combined as LXX Psalm 113. |
Historical and Scriptural Context
Psalm 115 belongs to the Hallel and deliberately follows the Exodus half of the combined LXX Psalm 113 with an explicit contrast between the Lord and the idols of the nations. The movement is theologically sharp. After the God of Israel shows Himself Lord over sea, river, mountain, and rock, the Psalm turns to the false gods that have mouths but cannot speak and eyes but cannot see.
Augustine refuses to reduce this to an ancient pagan problem only. Idols are the works of men’s hands, but the deeper tragedy is that the worshipper becomes like what he adores. Dead worship deadens the soul. In response, the Psalm gathers the house of Israel, the house of Aaron, and all who fear the Lord into a single rhythm of trust, remembrance, blessing, and praise.
Geographical Significance ⛰️
The Psalm speaks of the nations and of the covenant households of Israel and Aaron, but its main boundary is spiritual rather than territorial. One realm is ordered by idols fashioned from the earth; the other by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The geography serves the deeper contrast between dead worship and living communion.
The Characters 👥
The Lord. The living God who acts freely, remembers His people, blesses them, and receives the praise of the living.
The nations. Here they represent the world of mockery and idolatry that asks, “Where is their God?”
The idols. Silver and gold works of men’s hands, outwardly impressive and inwardly dead.
The house of Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the Lord. The covenant people called to trust, receive blessing, and bless the Lord forever.
🕯️ Light from the Word
Psalm 113:9-12, not to us, but to Thy name give glory
113:9 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory, because of thy mercy and thy truth; 113:10 lest at any time the nations should say, Where is their God? 113:11 But our God has done in heaven and on earth, whatsoever he has pleased. 113:12 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands.
The Psalm opens with doxological humility. The issue is not wounded pride, but the honor of the divine name. God’s mercy and truth are the reason He acts, and therefore He alone must receive glory.
Augustine connects this directly to grace. God saves “that men might not seek any glory of their own, but in the Lord’s Name.” He also comments that mercy and truth always remain together: mercy calls sinners, truth judges those who refuse that mercy. The Psalm therefore confronts both pagan idols and spiritual self-congratulation.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us”; “our God has done in heaven and on earth, whatsoever he has pleased.”
- Emphasize: healthy worship begins with humility and the glory of God.
- Avoid: turning the Psalm into tribal triumphalism. Its center is doxology, not self-congratulation.
Psalm 113:13-16, idols that cannot live
113:13 They have a mouth, but they cannot speak; they have eyes, but they cannot see: 113:14 they have ears, but they cannot hear; they have noses, but they cannot smell; 113:15 they have hands, but they cannot handle; they have feet, but they cannot walk: they cannot speak through their throat. 113:16 Let those that make them become like to them, and all who trust in them.
The idols are anatomically complete and existentially dead. They mimic life, but possess none. The deepest warning comes in verse 16: people become like what they worship.
Augustine sharpens the point with almost mocking precision. Even the craftsman surpasses the idol, and even a beast exceeds it. The tragedy is not that the idol looks powerful, but that the worshipper slowly becomes as mute, blind, and deaf as the thing he trusts. The Psalm therefore speaks with startling relevance to every age. Modern idols may be less visible, but they still promise life while deadening the heart.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “They have a mouth, but they cannot speak”; “Let those that make them become like to them.”
- Emphasize: worship shapes the soul, either into deadness or into life.
- Avoid: reducing idolatry to ancient statues only. Bring the heart-level application without becoming vague.
Psalm 113:17-26, trust, blessing, and the praise of the living
113:17 The house of Israel trusts in the Lord: he is their helper and defender. 113:18 The house of Aaron trusts in the Lord: he is their helper and defender. 113:19 They that fear the Lord trust in the Lord: he is their helper and defender. 113:20 The Lord has remembered us, and blessed us: he has blessed the house of Israel, he has blessed the house of Aaron. 113:21 He has blessed them that fear the Lord, both small and great. 113:22 The Lord add blessings to you and to your children. 113:23 Blessed are ye of the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth. 113:24 The heaven of heavens belongs to the Lord: but he has given the earth to the sons of men. 113:25 The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord, nor any that go down to Hades. 113:26 But we, the living, will bless the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.
After renunciation comes covenant trust. Israel, Aaron, and all who fear the Lord are gathered into one chorus of dependence. The Lord remembers and blesses. He is helper and defender.
Augustine hears this as the identity of God’s people in history: not self-secured, but remembered and sustained by God. The climax is the contrast between death and living praise. This is not a denial of resurrection hope. It is a summons to begin the life of praise now. In Christ, who trampled down death by death, the Church becomes the people who bless the Lord with Paschal boldness.
Lesson Guide
- Key phrases: “The house of Israel trusts in the Lord”; “But we, the living, will bless the Lord.”
- Emphasize: renunciation of idols must flower into covenant trust and living praise.
- Avoid: treating blessing as mere prosperity language. The heart of blessing here is remembrance, belonging, and worship.
The Church’s Voice in Worship 📖
Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.
Iconography Connection 🖼️
This Psalm pairs naturally with icons of the Baptism of Christ, the Harrowing of Hades, and the saints rejecting idols. The contrast is not aesthetic but ontological: dead images versus the living Lord. True vision belongs to worship healed by Christ.
Spiritual Fruit 🍇
- Give God the glory first. Begin prayer by taking the self out of the center.
- Name your idols honestly. Ask what promises life while silently draining the heart.
- Become like the living God, not dead substitutes. Worship forms perception, desire, and character.
- Choose living praise now. Do not postpone worship until life feels settled.
- Trust as the covenant people trust. Praise is not solitary heroism, but life inside God’s people.
Teacher's Notes
- Timing: 10 minutes for glory versus self, 15 minutes for the anatomy of idols, 15 minutes for covenant trust and living praise, 10 minutes for application.
- Where to linger: Psalm 113:13-16 and 113:25-26.
- Key phrase to say slowly: “Let those that make them become like to them, and all who trust in them.”
- Pastoral warning: do not leave idolatry at the level of ancient religion. Bring it into modern desires and attachments without trivializing the Psalm.
Glossary
- Idolatry: Worship of what is not God, whether literal images or ruling passions.
- House of Aaron: The priestly household, representing ordered worship.
- Hades: The realm of the dead.
- Living praise: Worship offered by those alive in covenant communion with God.
Translation and Source Notes
Embedded Scripture is Brenton’s English Septuagint, Psalm 113:9-26. The study title uses NKJV numbering first, Psalm 115, with its corresponding LXX section in parentheses because NKJV Psalms 114 and 115 are combined as LXX Psalm 113.
Sources
Primary sources: Brenton Septuagint, Psalm 113:9-26; Isaiah 44; 1 Kings 18; Romans 1; Colossians 1.
Patristic sources: St Augustine, Exposition on Psalm 115 (page title Psalm CXV / inline LXX Psalm 113 second-half material), especially on glory belonging to God, mercy and truth together, and the deforming power of idols; Theodoret of Cyrus, Commentary on the Psalms on idolatry, trust, and the praise of the living.
Coptic Orthodox / liturgical sources: Scripture from this study has an established place in the Coptic Orthodox lectionary through documented Church readings.