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Songs of Greatness is a sermon series on the greatness of God from the Psalms. Our God is in Heaven — Idols are created things people worship or serve in the place of their Creator God. Even today, idols are everywhere. But in the end, only the power of God is able to give us what we long for in Christ. Recorded on Aug 29, 2021, on Psalm 115, by Pastor David Parks. Sermon Transcript All year, we’re focusing on The Greatness of God. And this summer, we’ve been working through a sermon series from the Psalms in the Bible called Songs of Greatness. And we’ve said that the psalms cover the whole range of human emotion/experience, but a number of the psalms are all about the greatness of God, which is why we included this with our annual theme. Today, as we approach the end of our series, we’re considering Psalm 115, which is a psalm that calls us to trust in the one true and living God, the God of history and the God of the Bible. To turn from idols or the created things that we tend to put in the place of God or substitute for God. And turn back to a God who created us, a God who is alive and actually has the power to bless us, to help us, and ultimately, to save us. Please open your Bible/app to Psalm 115, starting with v. 1. We’re going to read all the way through this psalm, and then we’ll work through this in three parts: 1. The Prevalence of Idols 2. The Promise of Idols 3. The Power of God. Psalm 115, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them. All you Israelites, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield. House of Aaron, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield. You who fear him, trust in the Lord— he is their help and shield. The Lord remembers us and will bless us: He will bless his people Israel, he will bless the house of Aaron, he will bless those who fear the Lord— small and great alike. May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. It is not the dead who praise the Lord, those who go down to the place of silence; it is we who extol the Lord, both now and forevermore. Praise the Lord.” Ps 115 is one of the Hallel Psalms which I talked a lot about last week. If you missed that message, you can always go back and watch it on youtube or listen to the audio podcast online. Now, we aren’t given the context of the psalm directly, but given the theme of idolatry, it could pretty much apply to any time during the history of Israel. So let’s start back at v. 1 and work through this text. First, we’ll consider the prevalence of idols. v. 1. The Prevalence of Idols: Psalm 115: 1-8, “Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Why do the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him. But their idols are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but cannot feel, feet, but cannot walk, nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.” Let’s pause here. After an opening statement directing our worship to God, “to your name be the glory,” the psalmist asks the question in v. 2, “Why do the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’” So first,