Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 115:11

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 115:11. Ye that fear the Lord — All real penitents, and sincere believers, trust in the Lord, in the almighty, omniscient, and infinitely good Jehovah.

He is their help and shield — He is the succour, support, guardian, and defence of all who put their confidence in him.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 115-117 Saved from death

God was always faithful to Israel, though the Israelites were often unfaithful to him. Their sins brought God’s punishment upon them, causing their pagan neighbours to mock them with the accusation that their God was unable to help them and had deserted them (115:1-2). The Israelites reply that their God is alive and in full control. The pagan gods, by contrast, are useless, and the reason they are useless is that they are lifeless. Those who trust in them will achieve nothing (3-8).
Israel’s people will therefore trust in God for help and protection (9-11). They know that he will bless them and their descendants after them, for he is the almighty Creator (12-15). He has given the earth to humankind as a dwelling place, but has limited the number of years that each person may live on it. Therefore, God’s people should make sure that they fill their few short years with praise to him (16-18).

In Psalms 116:0 an individual worshipper brings a sacrifice to God to pay his vows and offer thanks (see v. 17-18). Before offering his sacrifice, he pauses to think quietly on the great mercy and love of God. As he does so, he finds that his own love towards God increases, particularly when he recalls how God has answered his prayers and saved his life (116:1-4). He has personally experienced God’s compassion and goodness (5-7). When he was unable to help himself and when so-called friends proved useless, he still trusted God. He prayed, and God gave him new life (8-11). He will now publicly thank God by offering prayers and sacrifices in fulfilment of his vow (12-14). He sees how highly God values the life of the believer. God does not allow him to die, as if death is a thing of no importance in God’s sight. God preserves him alive, and for this he offers overflowing thanks (15-19).

God’s loyal love to Israel should cause his people to spread the good news of his love to other nations. This, in turn, will cause the people of those nations to bring their praise to him (117:1-2).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

ISRAEL ENTREATED TO TRUST IN THE LORD

"O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust ye in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear Jehovah trust in Jehovah: He is their help and their shield. Jehovah hath 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 them that fear Jehovah, Both great and small."

As Dummelow noted, "Psalms 115:9-11 here seem to have been written to be sung antiphonally,"J. R. Dummelow's Commentary, p. 371. the response, "He is their help and their shield," to each exhortation being sung by a separate group of singers.

The only question that arises here is that of, "Just who are those addressed as `Ye that fear Jehovah.'"? Three different groups have been supposed to be indicated. "The identification of this third group is uncertain. It may be composed (1) of Gentile converts to Judaism (often called God-fearers), (2) an inner circle of the truly devout (the true seed of Abraham as distinguished from the rest of Israel), or (3) both the laity and priests already mentioned separately."The Layman's Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 159. (Parenthetical statements here by J.B.C.)

Of these possibilities, we strongly favor understanding the third group as the true "sons of Abraham," as distinguished both from the priests and from the nation as a whole. Some prefer to think of them as the proselytes, but McCullough's comment casts much doubt on that interpretation. He wrote, "It is improbable, even if the psalm belongs to the Persian or early Greek period, that proselytes were present in the temple in sufficient numbers to form a special group of worshippers."The Interpreter's Bible, op. cit., p. 608.

"Both small and great" This is probably a reference to both young and old, adults and children.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

Ye that fear the Lord ... - All the people that reverence God; all his true worshippers.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

11.Ye who fear Jehovah! He does not speak of strangers, as some erroneously suppose, as if this were a prediction respecting the calling of the Gentiles. Connecting them with the children of Israel and with the sons of Aaron, they are of opinion that he refers to the heathens and to the uncircumcised who were not yet gathered into the sheepfold. By parity of reason one might infer, that the priests are not of the seed of Abraham, because they are separately mentioned. It is more probable that there is in these words a tacit correction of what he had said before, by which he makes a distinction between the genuine worshippers of God and those hypocrites who were the degenerate sons of Abraham. Not a few of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh having departed from the faith of their father, the prophet here restricts the promise to those who, having received it by faith, were worshipping God in purity. We now perceive the reason for his first addressing the Israelites, next the house of Aaron, and then the fearers of Jehovah It is as if a person in our times were to point his exhortation first to the whole body of the Church, and then come more particularly to the ministers and teachers, who ought to be ensamples to others. And as many falsely pique themselves upon the mere name of being connected with the Church, and hence deserve not to be classed with God’s true followers, he expressly mentions the genuine and not the counterfeit worshippers of God.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 115:1-18 :

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but to thy name give glory ( Psalms 115:1 ),

Here again we have the same idea. Don't reverend me. "Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name." Let there be ascribed glory and reverence and awe.

for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Why should the heathen say, Where is now their God? ( Psalms 115:1-2 )

A lot of times people do say that. They say, "Well, where was your God when, you know. What happened to your God then, pal?" "Why should the heathen say, 'Where is now their God?'"

Our God is in the heavens: he has done whatsoever he hath pleased ( Psalms 115:3 ).

I need to remember that. "He has done what He has pleased." May not please me, but that isn't what's important.

Now referring again to the heathen, their idols. "Our God is in the heavens." He rules. But,

Their idols are silver and gold, they are the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they can't see: They have ears, but they can't hear: they have noses, but they don't smell: They have hands, but they cannot handle: they have feet, but they cannot walk: and neither do they speak through their throats. They that make them are like unto them; and so is every one that trusteth in them ( Psalms 115:4-8 ).

Now here is a philosophy expressed by the psalmist that is extremely profound as he observes the heathens and their gods. And the first observation that he makes is that men have a tendency to make their own god. Man has an innate desire to worship. And having this innate desire to worship, having to worship something, men make their own gods. But when a man makes a god, he makes his god like himself. So that my god is in reality a projection of myself. So in truth, I am actually worshipping myself. Self-worship. For he notices that when they make their gods, they carve mouths. They carve eyes. They carve ears. They carve feet and hands. Why? You carve hands in your little god? Because you have hands. Why do you carve a mouth? Because you have a mouth. Why do you carve ears? Because you have an ear.

When we were over in New Guinea, the missionaries told us of a tribe of people who have a congenital hip dislocation. And this whole tribe of people, it's a congenital thing; they all have a deformity of their right leg which is shorter than their left through this congenital hip problem. And they said that all of the little gods that this particular tribe carved out have a deformed right leg. Because a man makes a god like himself, a projection of myself. It is known as the anthropomorphic concept of God. Widely recognized. Man makes gods like himself.

But then the psalmist observed that though a man has made a god like himself, he has actually made his god infinitely less than himself. Because though I may carve out eyes on my little god, the eyes on my little god can't see. Though I may carve feet on my little god, they can't walk. Though I may carve hands on it, it can't handle. Though I may carve ears on it, it can't hear. Though I may carve a mouth on it, it can't speak. So I've made a god like myself, but in reality, I have made my god less than myself. And the final observation of the psalmist is, they that have made them have become like the gods that they have made. Or a man becomes like his god. This is a truth of life that you cannot escape. You are becoming like your god, whatever your god is. A man becomes like his god.

Now, if I have made my own god like myself but I've made my god less than myself, then by worshipping the god that I have made, I am degrading myself. I am becoming less than I was. Because I'm becoming like my god. And my god is less than me because I've made my god like myself, but actually less than myself. So my god is insensate. It can't feel, it can't see, it can't hear. I become insensate. I no longer can feel the presence of God. I can no longer feel the touch of God. I can no longer see the hand of God. I can no longer hear the voice of God. I'm becoming insensate just like the little god that I made. For a man becomes like his god. If your god is false, you're becoming false. If you're god is cruel, you're becoming cruel.

A man becomes like his god. That can be the greatest curse in all the world. Or it can be the greatest blessing in all the world. It's all relative as to who is your god. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we're going to be: but we know that, when He appears, we're going to be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is" ( 1 John 3:2 ). You see, a man becomes like his god. "We, with open face beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed from glory to glory, into His same image" ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 ). I'm becoming like my God everyday. And if I'm worshipping the true and the living God, how glorious it is as I am being transformed into His image daily as I worship Him. Man becomes like his god.

Now the New Testament tells us, "We are now the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we're going to be. We know when He appears, we'll be like Him." So you have actually in one side of it, man making a god like himself, infinitely less than himself; and thus, man being degraded as he worships his god. On the other hand, you have God making a man more than himself. More than man could ever be in himself. And thus, the worship of the true and the living God is always an elevating experience as God is conforming you into His image. Making you like Him.

Now I've either made a god like me, or God is making me like Him. You're in one of the two. You're either on the path down or the path up. Every man has a god. Don't believe a man who says, "I'm an atheist," because a god is only a title, and it is the title of what is the master passion of that person's life. What's the guiding principle of his life? Watch him for a while and you can see. Maybe the guiding passion of his life is pleasure and his whole life is lived for pleasure. Molech is his god. Maybe his whole life is lived for power and he's trying to control things, money, possessions and all. And Mammon is his god. Maybe he's trying to develop his intellect and the expansion of his consciousness and his understanding and all and he's made this the chief goal of life. Then Baal is his god. Every man has a god. Some of them are rather worthless gods, but gods indeed. And how good it is to worship and serve the true and the living God. Not one that I've created in my own mind. Not a concept that I have created. But to take the revelation of God of Himself to us and to worship the true and the living God.

So interesting observations from the psalmist here concerning the heathen and their gods.

O Israel, trust thou in Jehovah: for he is your help and your shield. O house of Aaron, trust in Jehovah: he is your help and your shield. Ye that reverence Jehovah, trust in Jehovah: for he is their help and their shield. Jehovah hath been mindful ( Psalms 115:9-12 )

And, of course, here again compounding, "O Israel, Aaron and ye that fear the Lord." It's a compounding of the idea, Hebrew poetry.

The Lord hath 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 them that fear the LORD, both small and great ( Psalms 115:12-13 ).

Same compounding with the blessings now.

The LORD shall increase you more and more, and your children. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men ( Psalms 115:14-16 ).

The heavens were the Lord's, but God gave the earth to man. But man blew it and gave it to Satan. And Satan now possesses the earth. But Jesus came to redeem the earth back to God, and before long He's going to take and claim that which He purchased. And I can hardly wait.

The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence ( Psalms 115:17 ).

Now this is one of the proof text for soul sleep, but I don't have time to go into it tonight. We'll go into it when we get to Ecclesiastes, where the scripture definitely teaches is that there is a consciousness. This is the psalmist expressing a thought of his own mind, and it is much like Job where God said, "What do you, you know, what are you talking about death? You haven't been beyond the gates of hell. You don't know what's there. And talking out of your head." And so here the psalmist is speaking of things which are not in keeping with the whole body of scripture which tells us that of the state of the dead, and especially the words of Christ.

But we will bless the LORD from this time forth for evermore. Hallelujah ( Psalms 115:18 ).

May the Lord be with you now and fill you with His love. May He guide you through this week. Entering into that time of the year where pressures always increase as we prepare to celebrate the pagan holiday of Saturnalia in our own Christianized form. May God protect you from the crass commercialism and keep you out of the hype of man. That you lose not sight of God and the things of the Spirit. But may more and more we become spiritually minded. And may we walk in the Spirit that we will not be guilty of fulfilling the desires of our own flesh. May the Lord be with you now and bless and keep you in the love of Jesus Christ. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 115

This anonymous psalm instructs God’s people to trust in the Lord rather than in idols.

"Psalms 115 is one psalm with Psalms 114 in the LXX and the Vulgate. However, there is little doubt that they form two separate psalms. The motifs and genre of the psalms are too different. Psalms 114 is in the form of a hymn describing the wonder of Israel’s redemption from Egypt, whereas the literary forms of Psalms 115 are quite varied and include lament, liturgy, and confidence.

"Psalms 115 may be classified as a psalm of communal confidence. The psalms of communal confidence are closely related to communal thanksgiving songs and to communal laments. The psalms of communal confidence convey a sense of need as well as a deep trust in the Lord’s ability to take care of the needs of the people. There are three such psalms (115, 125, 129)." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 719. Cf. Bullock, p. 175.]

Other scholars see Psalms 46 as one of these psalms and exclude Psalms 115. [Note: E.g., H. Kraus, Psalmen 1:iii.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. The need for God’s people to trust Him 115:9-11

The psalmist called on all the Israelites to trust in the true God, rather than idols, because He alone can help and defend people. He addressed this charge to all Israel, then the priests who were mainly responsible for the purity of Israel’s worship, and then all God-fearing people. He used repetition to impress the importance of trusting in the Lord on the reader.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord,.... Which is said not to distinguish true saints from hypocrites, in Israel or in Aaron's house; rather to describe such who belonged to neither: but, as Aben Ezra interprets it, who feared the Lord, of every people and nation; or proselytes, as Jarchi explains it: the distinction between the people of the Jews, and the proselytes among them, under the character of those that feared the Lord, may be observed in Acts 13:26. It takes in all true worshippers of the Lord; and who are exhorted to trust in him, for faith and fear are consistent; and where there is the one, there is the other; where there is the true fear of God, not a slavish nor an hypocritical fear, but a holy reverence and a godly fear, there will be faith and confidence in him. Job was a man that feared the Lord, and yet trusted in him; these characters meet in the same persons, see

Psalms 31:19.

He is their help and their shield; the help and shield of all those that fear the Lord, their protector and defender, and therefore should trust in him. The word "ezer", translated help, in this and the two preceding verses, is applied to God, and often in this book of Psalms, as a title and epithet belonging to him; and it may be observed that "Aesar", in the Etruscan language, signifies God z.

z Sueton. in Angust. c. 97.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      9 O Israel, trust thou 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 Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield.   12 The LORD hath 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 them that fear the LORD, both small and great.   14 The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.   15 Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.   16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.   17 The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.   18 But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore. Praise the LORD.

      In these verses,

      I. We are earnestly exhorted, all of us, to repose our confidence in God, and not suffer our confidence in him to be shaken by the heathens' insulting over us upon the account of our present distresses. It is folly to trust in dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help and a shield to those that do trust in them, a help to furnish them with and forward them in that which is good, and a shield to fortify them against and protect them from every thing that is evil. Therefore, 1. Let Israel trust in the Lord; the body of the people, as to their public interests, and every particular Israelite, as to his own private concerns, let them leave it to God to dispose of all for them, and believe it will dispose of all for the best and will be their help and shield. 2. Let the priests, the Lord's ministers, and all the families of the house of Aaron, trust in the Lord, (Psalms 115:10; Psalms 115:10); they are most maligned and struck at by the enemies and therefore of them God takes particular care. They ought to be examples to others of a cheerful confidence in God, and a faithful adherence to him in the worst of times. 3. Let the proselytes, who are not of the seed of Israel, but fear the Lord, who worship him and make conscience of their duty to him, let them trust in him, for he will not fail nor forsake them, Psalms 115:11; Psalms 115:11. Note, Wherever there is an awful fear of God, there may be a cheerful faith in him: those that reverence his word may rely upon it.

      II. We are greatly encouraged to trust in God, and good reason is given us why we should stay ourselves upon him with an entire satisfaction. Consider, 1. What we have experienced (Psalms 115:12; Psalms 115:12): The Lord has been mindful of us, and never unmindful, has been so constantly, has been so remarkably upon special occasions. He has been mindful of our case, our wants and burdens, mindful of our prayers to him, his promises to us, and the covenant-relation between him and us. All our comforts are derived from God's thoughts to us-ward; he has been mindful of us, though we have forgotten him. Let this engage us to trust in him, that we have found him faithful. 2. What we may expect. From what he has done for us we may infer, He will bless us; he that has been our help and our shield will be so; he that has remembered us in our low estate will not forget us; for he is still the same, his power and goodness the same, and his promise inviolable; so that we have reason to hope that he who has delivered, and does, will yet deliver. Yet this is not all: He will bless us; he has promised that he will; he has pronounced a blessing upon all his people. God's blessing us is not only speaking good to us, but doing well for us; those whom he blesses are blessed indeed. It is particularly promised that he will bless the house of Israel, that is, he will bless the commonwealth, will bless his people in their civil interests. He will bless the house of Aaron, that is, the church, the ministry, will bless his people in their religious concerns. The priests were to bless the people; it was their office (Numbers 6:23); but God blessed them, and so blessed their blessings. Nay (Psalms 115:13; Psalms 115:13), he will bless those that fear the Lord, though they be not of the house of Israel or the house of Aaron; for it was a truth, before Peter perceived it, That in every nation he that fears God is accepted or him, and blessed, Acts 10:34; Acts 10:35. He will bless them both small and great, both young and old. God has blessings in store for those that are good betimes and for those that are old disciples, both those that are poor in the world and those that make a figure. The greatest need his blessing, and it shall not be denied to the meanest that fear him. Both the weak in grace and the strong shall be blessed of God, the lambs and the sheep of his flock. It is promised (Psalms 115:14; Psalms 115:14), The Lord shall increase you. Whom God blesses he increases; that was one of the earliest and most ancient blessings, Be fruitful and multiply. God's blessing gives an increase--increase in number, building up the family--increase in wealth, adding to the estate and honour--especially an increase in spiritual blessings, with the increasings of God. He will bless you with the increase of knowledge and wisdom, of grace, holiness, and joy; those are blessed indeed whom God thus increases, who are made wiser and better, and fitter for God and heaven. It is promised that this shall be, (1.) A constant continual increase: "He shall increase you more and more; so that, as long as you live, you shall be still increasing, till you come to perfection, as the shining light," Proverbs 4:18. (2.) An hereditary increase: "You and your children; you in your children." It is a comfort to parents to see their children increasing in wisdom and strength. There is a blessing entailed upon the seed of those that fear God even in their infancy. For (Psalms 115:15; Psalms 115:15), You are blessed of the Lord, you and your children are so; all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord has blessed,Isaiah 59:9. Those that are the blessed of the Lord have encouragement enough to trust in the Lord, as their help and shield, for it is he that made heaven and earth; therefore his blessings are free, for he needs not any thing himself; and therefore they are rich, for he has all things at command for us if we fear him and trust in him. He that made heaven and earth can doubtless make those happy that trust in him, and will do it.

      III. We are stirred up to praise God by the psalmist's example, who concludes the psalm with a resolution to persevere in his praises. 1. God is to be praised, Psalms 115:16; Psalms 115:16. He is greatly to be praised; for, (1.) His glory is high. See how stately his palace is, and the throne he has prepared in the heavens: The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's; he is the rightful owner of all the treasures of light and bliss in the upper and better world, and is in the full possession of them, for he is himself infinitely bright and happy. (2.) His goodness is large, for the earth he has given to the children of men, having designed it, when he made it, for their use, to find them with meat, drink, and lodging. Not but that still he is proprietor in chief; the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; but he has let out that vineyard to these unthankful husbandmen, and from them he expects the rents and services; for, though he has given them the earth, his eye is upon them, and he will call them to render an account how they use it. Calvin complains that profane wicked people, in his days, perverted this scripture, and made a jest of it, which some in our days do, arguing, in banter, that God, having given the earth to the children of men, will no more look after it, nor after them upon it, but they may do what they will with it, and make the best of it as their portion; it is as it were thrown like a prey among them, Let him seize it that can. It is a pity that such an instance as this gives of God's bounty to man, and such a proof as arises from it of man's obligation to God, should be thus abused. From the highest heavens, it is certain, God beholds all the children of men; to them he has given the earth; but to the children of God heaven is given. 2. The dead are not capable of praising him (Psalms 115:17; Psalms 115:17), nor any that go into silence. The soul indeed lives in a state of separation from the body and is capable of praising God; and the souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burdens of the flesh, do praise God, are still praising him; for they go up to the land of perfect light and constant business. But the dead body cannot praise God; death puts an end to our glorifying God in this world of trial and conflict, to all our services in the field; the grave is a land of darkness and silence, where there is no work or device. This they plead with God for deliverance out of the hand of their enemies, "Lord, if they prevail to cut us off, the idols will carry the day, and there will be none to praise thee, to bear thy name, and to bear a testimony against the worshippers of idols." The dead praise not the Lord, so as we do in the business and for the comforts of this life. See Psalms 30:9; Psalms 88:10. 3. Therefore it concerns us to praise him (Psalms 115:18; Psalms 115:18): "But we, we that are alive, will bless the Lord; we and those that shall come after us, will do it, from this time forth and for evermore, to the end of time; we and those we shall remove to, from this time forth and to eternity. The dead praise not the Lord, therefore we will do it the more diligently." (1.) Others are dead, and an end is thereby put to their service, and therefore we will lay out ourselves to do so much the more for God, that we may fill up the gap. Moses my servant is dead, now therefore, Joshua, arise. (2.) We ourselves must shortly go to the land of silence; but, while we do live, we will bless the Lord, will improve our time and work that work of him that sent us into the world to praise him before the night comes, and because the night comes, wherein no man can work. The Lord will bless us (Psalms 115:12; Psalms 115:12); he will do well for us, and therefore we will bless him, we will speak well of him. Poor returns for such receivings! Nay, we will not only do it ourselves, but will engage others to do it. Praise the Lord; praise him with us; praise him in your places, as we in ours; praise him when we are gone, that he may be praised for evermore. Hallelujah.