Psalms

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Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name bring honor, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”⁠ 3 Our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases.⁠ 4 Their idols are made of silver and gold—they are man-made.⁠ 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak; eyes, but cannot see; 6 ears, but cannot hear; noses, but cannot smell; 7 hands, but cannot touch; feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats. 8 Those who make them will end up like them,⁠ as will everyone who trusts in them. 9 O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector. 10 O family of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector. 11 You loyal followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector. 12 The Lord takes notice of us; he will bless—he will bless the family of Israel, he will bless the family of Aaron. 13 He will bless his loyal followers, both young and old. 14 May he increase your numbers, yours and your children’s. 15 May you be blessed by the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. 16 The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind. 17 The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death.⁠ 18 But we will praise the Lord now and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 115:3 and Daniel 4:35

Hebrew Bible

Summary

In Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar declares that God acts according to his will with no one able to oppose him, language that matches Psalm 115. Daniel places this expression in the mouth of the Babylonian king, creating a likely anachronism.

Passages

Psalm 115:3

Hebrew Bible

1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name bring honor, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness. 2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” 3 Our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases. 4 Their idols are made of silver and gold—they are man-made. 5 They have mouths, but cannot speak; eyes, but cannot see;

600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

Daniel 4:35

Hebrew Bible

34 But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward heaven, and my sanity returned to me. I extolled the Most High, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever. For his authority is an everlasting authority, and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next. 35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him, “What have you done?” 36 At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my nobles were seeking me out, and I was reinstated over my kingdom. I became even greater than before.

200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

References

"... The fact that biblical writers label a range of entities as elōhı̂m that they elsewhere take pains to distinguish as lesser than Yahweh tells us quite clearly that we ought not understand elōhı̂m as having to do with a unique set of attributes possessed by only one Being. A biblical writer would use elōhı̂m to label any entity that is not embodied by nature and is a member of the spiritual realm. This “other-worldliness” is an attribute all residents of the spiritual world possess. Every member of the spiritual world can be thought of as elōhı̂m since the term tells us where an entity belongs in terms of its nature. The spiritual realm has rank and hierarchy: Yahweh is the Most High. Biblical writers distinguish Yahweh from other elōhı̂m by means of other descriptors exclusively attributed to him, not by means of the single word elōhı̂m: Biblical writers also assign unique qualities to Yahweh. Yahweh is all-powerful (Jeremiah 32:17, 27; Psalm 72:18; 115:3), the sovereign king over the other elōhı̂m (Psalm 95:3; Daniel 4:35; 1 Kings 22:19), the creator of the other members of his host-council (Psalm 148:1–5; Nehemiah 9:6; compare Job 38:7; Deuteronomy 4:19–20; 17:3; 29:25–26; 32:17; James 1:17) and the lone elōhı̂m who deserves worship from the other elōhı̂m (Psalm 29:1). In fact, Nehemiah 9:6 explicitly declares that Yahweh is unique—there is only one Yahweh (“You alone are Yahweh”) ..."

Michael S. Heiser, Angels: What the Bible Really Says about God’s Heavenly Host (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2018), 18–19.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Psalms150 psalms

Compare Psalm 115:3 and Daniel 4:35

Summary

Passages

Psalm 115:3

Daniel 4:35

References

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