Are you so vain that you probably don't think this PSALM is about you?

Lord, your name is everlasting;

Lord, you will be remembered forever.

The Lord defends his people

and has mercy on his servants.

d

The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold,

the work of human hands.

They have mouths, but they cannot speak.

They have eyes, but they cannot see.

They have ears, but they cannot hear.

They have no breath in their mouths.

People who make idols will be like them,

and so will those who trust in them.

d

Family of Israel, praise the Lord.

Family of Aaron, praise the Lord.

Family of Levi, praise the Lord.

You who respect the Lord should praise him.

You people of Israel, praise the Lord on Mount Zion.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 135: 14-21


SITUATION This writer praised God because God choose Israel as his people. God created a beautiful world, and God has greater power than any other god.

OBSERVATION God's children worship only him, while the heathen worship idols in vain.

INSPIRATION We usually think of an idol as a religious figure carved out of wood or stone, perhaps in some primitive tribe, far removed from civilization. Be we have our "idols" today, because an idol is something that you worship in place of the living God. Some people worship the idol of beauty or sexual pleasure. Some people worship the idol of money and security--although I have observed that the more money some people have the more insecure they become. Some people worship at the shrine of power, constantly scheming for ways they can dominate others.

...What is your idol? What really, honestly, dominates your life? What are your priorities, and what are the real (although perhaps hidden) motives in your everyday living? Is Christ on the throne of your life, or is it self? You don't have to practice voodoo to be a follower of a strange cult to have been deceived....Anything that entices you away from a wholehearted commitment to Christ is being used of Satan to deceive you. (From Approaching Hoofbeats by Billy Graham)

APPLICATION What inhibits your relationship with God? Get rid of distractions: pay off your credit cards, turn off the television for a night, and leave the motor home parked for the weekend. Take time to improve your friendship with God this week.

EXPLORATION Idols -- Deuteronomy 32:16; Psalm 96:5; Isaiah 2:8-9; Colossians 3:5-6; Revelation 9:20

The Devotional Bible -Experiencing The Heart of Jesus - Max Lucado General Editor, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Publishers