1 Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,
But to Your name give glory,
Because of Your mercy,
Because of Your truth.
2 Why should the Gentiles say,
“So where is their God?”
3 But our God is in heaven;
He does whatever He pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
5 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
6 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Noses they have, but they do not smell;
7 They have hands, but they do not handle;
Feet they have, but they do not walk;
Nor do they mutter through their throat.
8 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
10 O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
11 You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord;
He is their help and their shield.
12 The Lord has been mindful of us;
He will bless us;
He will bless the house of Israel;
He will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
Both small and great.
14 May the Lord give you increase more and more,
You and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s;
But the earth He has given to the children of men.
17 The dead do not praise the Lord,
Nor any who go down into silence.
18 But we will bless the Lord
From this time forth and forevermore.
Following the focus in the previous two psalms on God’s expression of sovereign solicitude towards mankind generally (Psalm 113) and Israel specifically (Psalm 114), this psalm focuses on the uniqueness of His solicitude—i.e. that the benefits … are available only from God. Hence the psalmist begins by emphasizing that the glory (i.e., the thanksgiving, praise, and adulation) for these benefits goes “not to us,” but to God’s name (i.e., God as reputed by His words an deeds). All these benefits are ultimately an expression of God’s lovingkindness and faithfulness and should not be attributed to idols (vs.4-7)—which, lest we too quickly write this warning off as an ancient pagan fancy, is in principle equivalent to our attribution of the various benefits we experience to ourselves, other people, circumstances, etc. when in fact all of these are merely the means employed by God to express His multifaceted solicitude towards us. Every benefit we experience is from God (James 1:17), who, because He is sovereign over all things, does whatever He pleases (v.3). the psalmist condenses this principle into the exhortation that his addressees trust in the Lord (i.e.,Yahweh, and no one/nothing else) as their help and their shield—which exhortation he directs specifically to Israel as a whole (v.9), the house of Aaron (v.10; since the priests were responsible for teaching the rest of the nation [see Deuteronomy 33:10]), and all who fear the LORD (v.11; i.e., both Jew and Gentile) — Wechsler, pages 275-276.
Verse 8 points out that those who create and trust in idols become as stupid and senseless as the idols themselves. They don’t use the senses God gave them (vs.5-7). See Isaiah 44:9-20.
Williams’ take:
“From this time forth” (v.18) means, historically, from the commencement of the millennial reign. The verse expresses Israel’s confidence in the glory and success of Messiah’s government. — Williams, page 387.
