The Heart's Cry: Psalm 115

Psalm 115

This Psalm at base is a simple contrast between the living God and fake idols. Idols are as prevalent today as they used to be, at least not in the Western world, at least not in the same form they once were. The problem is that it was a lot easier to make fun of little statues that stood in for gods as opposed to the things that today stand in for gods. You see, by and large we don't worship idols and what we do worship we no longer call idols. Instead we call them money or power or position or the rat race or capitalism or patriotism or... you can fill in the blank depending on what idols you see or what idols you worship. Other times the idols we worship we see in the mirror or across the bed or in someone else's bed or on a TV screen with a microphone or wearing dancing shoes or behind a desk in an oval office. Still others we live in or they sit in our driveway or they flash in 30 second increments between snippets of our favorite shows. Then come the ones that appear in different seasons and we buy the jerseys and hats and foam fingers and we declare our allegiance to ours and hate all others, especially the ones that those who like what we like hate. The problem that we face is that through the passage of time we have acquired more idols, not less.

But none of those things are idols, right? That's what we tell ourselves. "It's just money." "It's just a hobby." "It's what we should do." "I'm a fan, that's all." But in reality they control us, it's how we spend our time, it's how we spend our money, it's how we spend our energies. And when we are in front of the TV or computer or tablet or cellphone everything else fades away, we don't listen, we don't pay attention, and we definitely don't worship what we should because we are too busy worshiping what we shouldn't. Do yourself a favor and take a good long hard look at your life, because those idols, "have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats. Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them."

+ What idols do you have in your life? How can you lay them aside and spend your time, money, and energies on things that do matter?