Look Who Moved In Next Door

Psalm 135:13-21

13Your name, O LORD, endures forever;

your fame, O LORD, is known to every generation.

14For the LORD will vindicate his people

and have compassion on his servants.

15Their idols are merely things of silver and gold,

shaped by human hands.

16They cannot talk, though they have mouths,

or see, though they have eyes!

17They cannot hear with their ears

or smell with their noses.

18And those who make them are just like them,

as are all who trust in them.

19O Israel, praise the LORD!

O priests of Aaron, praise the LORD!

20O Levites, praise the LORD!

All you who fear the LORD, praise the LORD!

21The LORD be praised from Zion,

for he lives here in Jerusalem.

Praise the LORD!

Often we are good at sending missionaries to a far off mission field, but how do we cope with a mission field when it comes to us?

That’s what’s been happening in the last few decades. Millions of people who practice other religions have been coming into our neighborhoods, and often we don’t know how to respond.

In a way, that’s what was happening throughout the Old Testament as well. The people of Canaan had an amazing pantheon of gods, such as Baal, Molech, Chemosh, Ashtoreth, and Tammuz. At one point the prophet Jeremiah said that there were as many gods in Judah as there were cities. The worship of these gods involved cult prostitution, child sacrifice, mediums, soothsayers, and spiritists.

It is in this context that the psalmist was trying to show what was unique about the God the Israelites worshiped. He is not merely a tribal deity; he reigns over all the earth. He created all things, so he is powerful. Yet he is also compassionate and loving. Yes, he is an awesome God.

In the New Testament world this God invaded the world in Jesus Christ, and his death and resurrection provide us with unique points of conversation as we witness to non-Christian neighbors. Other religions have philosophies and holy books, but none of them has a risen Savior like Jesus Christ.

O God of sovereign grace,

We bow before your throne,

And plead for all the human race

The merits of your Son.

BAPTIST COLLECTION

Bible Networking

For a similar description of the so-called “gods” worshiped by the heathen, read Jeremiah 10:3-10.

Notable Quotable

“The makers of idols become like that which they make—a man becomes like his god, approximates in character and conduct that to which he yields his homage. The difference between true and false religion is that, in the former, worship is to the One who is forever greater than ourselves, and the others worship their creation, which is forever less than themselves.”

G. CAMPBELL MORGAN