Resembling What We Revere
“Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”
Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.”
(Psalm 115:2–3 ESV)
Psalm 115 is an example of what New Testament scholar Dr. G.K. Beale calls "sensory-organ-malfunction language". The setting is the question that would be posed to God's people from the surrounding Gentiles. Pagans had statues of their gods. Multiple temples and shrines would house images of Marduk or Dagon, Zeus or Athena. Sacrifices would be offered before the image, the "gods" could be taken out for a procession, and they could be seen and touched. On the other hand, God Almighty has commanded His people “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them...” (Exodus 20:4–5 ESV) So as Israel and the Church's neighbors saw an empty temple or prayers and worship without a statue their taunting, mocking question would be "Where is their God?"
Psalm 115 has our response, "Our God is in Heaven!" And it continues with its own scathing mockery. Unlike our God who made the heavens and the earth and "does whatever He pleases", let's look at your pagan so-called "gods". They are created by human hands (115:4) and they are impotent, incapable of acting: their mouths can't speak wisdom or truth, their eyes can't watch out for you, their ears can't hear your prayer, their noses can't smell the sacrifice you offer, their feet can't run to your aid, nor their hands act to save you. Your gods are powerless.
“The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!” They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.” (Isaiah 44:13–18 )
Moreover, as Beale points out, “We resemble what we revere, either for ruin or restoration”.1 “Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.” (Psalm 115:8 ) This is the truth behind the prophet Isaiah's commissioning to idolatrous Israel, “Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive." As we worship powerless idols, we begin to resemble them.
Our modern lives, empty of graven images of Molech or Aphrodite, doesn’t make us safe from idolatry. Neither is owning the label "Christian" and going to church. We are every bit tempted to worship money, power, sex, and pleasure as the ancients. We might not name them and recognize them as deities, but we too are tempted to worship what Tim Keller has called "counterfeit gods". And in doing so we too begin to resemble them. We become blind to others' needs and the damage we cause. Our ears become deaf to wisdom and reason. We become powerless against our desires.
Yet, as we come to truly know the living God, through worship, meditating on His word, trusting His promises, and obeying His law - we become more like him. Following Jesus transforms us to resemble Him in "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:22-23)
We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry, p. 49