pointless worship

I would like to share this devotional I received by email this week from Back to the Bible, written by Woodroll Kroll. You can read the entire devotional at www.BacktotheBible.org

Psalm 115:1-8
1Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. 2Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? 3But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. 4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. 5They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: 6They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: 7They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. 8They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

Psalm 115 tells us about the blessings we have because our God is the living God. He's not one of the "idols of the nations." "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands" (v. 4). How true that is today also. Many people worship silver and gold as their god. They think money can do anything. We do need money for some of the practical things in life. But what good are the things that money can buy if you don't have the things that money can't buy?
The psalmist describes the idols and the pointlessness of worshiping them. "They have mouths, but they do not speak [no promises]; eyes they have, but they do not see [no protection]; they have ears, but they do not hear [no prayer]; noses they have, but they do not smell [no praise]; they have hands, but they do not handle [no power]; feet they have, but they do not walk [no presence]; nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them" (vv. 5-). How unlike God. Christians have promises--our God talks to us. We have protection because He sees all that happens. We have prayer because His ears are open to us. We can praise Him. (In the Bible, the smelling of a fragrant offering is a picture of God's acceptance of our praise to Him.) We have power because He has an omnipotent hand.

This passage really makes us stop and think. Am I worshiping an idol of some kind like the unsaved, or am I really worshiping God? If you have the CD "Get on Board" from Sacred Music Services, you also might want to listen to the song, "They Got Eyes", track #4. It is an old spiritual based on this passage. You can listen to excerpts from this CD at www.oldchristianmusic.com