August 24 — Psalm 115

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They 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. O Israel, trust 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. You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield. 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; he will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great. May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth. The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings. The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any that go down into silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time on and forevermore. Praise the LORD!”

“Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They 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”

Psalm 115 is a hymn of praise to G-d who is above all things — who is the creator of all. While G-d is not seen in any anthropomorphic manner — yet we see G-d in the things G-d created — and the evidence of G-d’s power — and through the Son, Jesus, who brings salvation.

The Psalmist attacks those who worship false gods and idols, promoting the first of the Ten Commandments: “You shall not have other gods beside me. You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; you shall not bow down before them or serve them.” (Exodus 20:4-5)

I am reminded of the battle between Elijah and the priests of Ba’al on Mount Carmel. Elijah challenged them to have their gods consume a sacrifice — and so they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.” (1 Kings 18:26-27)

We worship one G-d — who was, is and is to come, the almighty. And we continue to read the Psalms in our worship, and use them in our prayer life — for they remind us of the greatness of our G-d.

Let us pray:

Lord God, creator and ruler of the universe, you have entrusted the care of the earth to its peoples. Grant that your children, surrounded by signs of your presence, may live continually in Christ, praising you through him and with him, now and forever.

Amen.

August 23 — Psalm 114

“When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language, Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back. The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs. Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the God of Jacob, who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.”

Psalm 114 is still sung with Psalm 113 prior to the Jewish Passover meal — it is a song about the power of G-d in delivering the Israelites from Egypt, bringing them into the Promised Land and preserving them in the wilderness in between.

We read in this Psalm: “Why is it, O sea, that you flee?

O Jordan, that you turn back? O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs? Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the LORD…”

We might wonder why the sea, the mountains, and the earth trembles and skips at the presence of G-d…until we remember that all that is was created by G-d. All things should tremble at the presence of the Lord.

St. Thomas Aquinas, in his analysis of the five ways G-d’s existence can be explained, says in his first way:

The First Way: Argument from Motion

1. Our senses prove that some things are in motion.

2. Things move when potential motion becomes actual motion.

3. Only an actual motion can convert a potential motion into an actual motion.

4. Nothing can be at once in both actuality and potentiality in the same respect (i.e., if both actual and potential, it is actual in one respect and potential in another).

5. Therefore nothing can move itself.

6. Therefore each thing in motion is moved by something else.

7. The sequence of motion cannot extend ad infinitum.

8. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, put in motion by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

It is in this argument that St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us that something had to set everything in motion — that motion was the creation — that creator was G-d. Since the deliverance of the Israelites from the Egyptians, and then their covenantal relationship with G-d, Israel has been writing praises to G-d — and we continue to give thanks for all that G-d has, is, and will do in our lives.

Let us pray:

Mighty God, by your power you led your people out of slavery in Egypt, and raised Christ from the dead. Deliver us continually by your power from slavery to freedom and from death to life, for the glory of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Amen.