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Psalm 115

The Impotence of Idols and the Greatness of God

¹ Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
   for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
² Why should the nations say,
   ‘Where is their God?’

³ Our God is in the heavens;
   he does whatever he pleases.
⁴ Their idols are silver and gold,
   the work of human hands.
⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak;
   eyes, but do not see.
⁶ They have ears, but do not hear;
   noses, but do not smell.
⁷ They have hands, but do not feel;
   feet, but do not walk;
   they make no sound in their throats.
⁸ Those who make them are like them;
   so are all who trust in them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.
¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord!
   He is their help and their shield.

¹² The Lord has been mindful of us; he will bless us;
   he will bless the house of Israel;
   he will bless the house of Aaron;
¹³ he will bless those who fear the Lord,
   both small and great.

¹⁴ May the Lord give you increase,
   both you and your children.
¹⁵ May you be blessed by the Lord,
   who made heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
   but the earth he has given to human beings.
¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord,
   nor do any that go down into silence.
¹⁸ But we will bless the Lord
   from this time on and for evermore.
Praise the Lord!

The Day of the Lord a Dark Day

¹⁸ Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
   Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
¹⁹   as if someone fled from a lion,
   and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
   and was bitten by a snake.
²⁰ Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
   and gloom with no brightness in it?

²¹ I hate, I despise your festivals,
   and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
²² Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
   I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
   I will not look upon.
²³ Take away from me the noise of your songs;
   I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
²⁴ But let justice roll down like waters,
   and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

25 Did you bring to me sacrifices and offerings the forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

Judging Others

37 ‘Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; ³⁸give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.’

39 He also told them a parable: ‘Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit? ⁴⁰A disciple is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully qualified will be like the teacher. ⁴¹Why do you see the speck in your neighbour’s^* eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴²Or how can you say to your neighbour,^* “Friend,^* let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbour’s^* eye.

Jews and Gentiles Are Saved by Faith

15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶yet we know that a person is justified^* not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.^* And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ,^* and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. ¹⁷But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; ²⁰and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God,^* who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification^* comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing.