Pray the Psalms: Psalm 135

[MUSIC PLAYING] Hi. Rick Hamlin. Psalm 135. Eyes they have, but they see not. Ears they have, but they hear not. Mouths they don’t even use to breathe. And they that make them are like them. 

Now, these are idols. This is buried deeper into the psalm. But what a wonderful image of these idols made out of gold or silver in Psalm 135. 

Ears they have, but they hear not. Well, most of us don’t worship gold or silver idols. But I certainly find myself attracted to things that can become idols. I can be idolatrous. I can admire or envy things that are not particularly worthy, things that seem glamorous, things that seem rich, people, places, a lifestyle that seems an American idol. 

But in the end– and this is what’s so great about this psalm– it’s not the idol that’s the wrong thing, that really doesn’t work. I mean, it’s dead. The eyes don’t see. The mouth doesn’t speak. The ears don’t hear. The mouth doesn’t breathe. What’s really dead is the maker of the idol. So both maker and idol are faulty. We need to find other idols, and that’s why we praise the Lord. But what a great image, and a reminder that both the maker of the idol and the worshiper– the worshiper is wrong, because there’s nothing really there to worship. 

Ears they have, but they hear not. Eyes they have, but they see not. And like unto them are those that make them. I won’t be making idols. And I’ll be careful about my own idolatry. Psalm 135.