Have you ever been to a wax museum? In some of the better ones, the statues look quite life-like. You half expect them to start talking and moving. Imagine a young man or woman who wants to find a spouse, and so they commission a wax figure artist to make a wax figure to just their specifications, just the right hair color, eye color, size and shape. And then maybe to go with it, a wax baby to complete their desired family. Though they may look like the perfect spouse, they just stand in one spot. You can’t talk to it and get a response. They can’t sympathize with your difficult day, can’t help with any chores, or go to dinner and a movie together. Though you wouldn’t have to change the baby’s diaper, neither can you have the joy of hearing their first word, or seeing their first step. There is no pride in seeing their accomplishments as they grow. These wax figures just stand there and do nothing. We would think there is something wrong with the person who would pick that for their family. And yet as we look into our psalm for today, we see how people who worship pagan gods and their idols are no different. Let’s look further at this psalm.
As we read through this psalm, the unknown psalmist contrasted the greatness of God with the powerlessness of idols. The pagan nations surrounding Israel worshiped idols, while God’s people worship Yahweh, the living God. These heathen nations would set up their idols throughout their countries, and cry out to them for rain, sunshine, and safety from other natural disasters. They would plead with the idols for a fruitful harvest. However, these idols could do nothing. The gods that these stone and wood statues represented didn’t even exist. They had no power over creation. Yahweh, the one true God, is the Creator of heaven and earth, and all that is therein (vs. 6-7). He alone controls all of creation.
The pagans would also set up their wooden and stone idols and cry out for the false gods to deliver them from their enemies. Again, this was a futile activity. The stone and wood could not deliver them. These false gods could never save or deliver. Only the Lord God can (vs. 8-12). The psalmist reminded the people that the Lord is the One who delivered them from Egypt and brought them to the land of Canaan. Who are we turning to for help in our life, whether in minor problems, or major, life-threatening issues? Anyone or anything other than the Lord God is as useless as a stone or wooden idol or a wax statue!
The psalmist proceeded to highlight the complete and utter folly of worshiping these pagan idols (vs. 15-18). These idols were carved out of wood or stone, sometimes even precious metals and gemstones. They were made by man, and are a created object, not the Creator Himself. The artisan would carve a mouth, eyes, and ears, but being a rock or piece of wood, they could not see, hear, or speak. They would sit or stand wherever they were placed. They could not move around. They are as helpless and useless as the wax figures mentioned earlier. Yahweh is infinitely superior to these imaginary gods of the foreign nations, and to the idols that today’s heathen religions worship.
One thing that the psalmist noted is that people become like the idols they worship (vs. 18). People will take on the characteristics of whatever they worship. Those who worship idols are as blind and insensitive as the idols themselves. They don’t see or hear what God has to say. What has first place in our hearts? Are we so devoted to that object, activity, or person that we begin to worship it? Slowly, or even not so slowly, we will become like what we worship. If the true God is our God, we should be becoming more like Him.
In closing, it pleases the Lord to do good, to show mercy, and to bestow His grace on those who worship Him. Nothing can stop Him. He treasures those who are His children, and gives His love and mercy to all those who have accepted His Son as their Savior. Praising God reminds us who He is, so that we do not fall into the trap of idol worship. Do you want a relationship with the one true God, or do you want to rely on wood and stone, something as worthless and lifeless as the material they are made from? Come to the Lord Jesus Christ today, the One and only true God!
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