In the ancient world the strongest nations were believed to be associated with the strongest gods. If your army defeated my army, then that proved that your gods are stronger than mine. So, the psalmist here declares the praises of his God, Yahweh (‘The LORD’ in our English translations), before and therefore in defiance of the other ‘gods’. In referring to other ‘gods,’ the psalmist is not crediting them with divinity. At most they were demonic spiritual beings masquerading as gods and, in this sense, they are ‘false gods.’ They are certainly powerless to do any of the things that their devotees claim they can do (Psalm 115:5-7). In contrast to this the psalmist celebrates the fact that Yahweh speaks to his people, hears their prayers, and acts on their behalf. Moreover, Yahweh has made promises to his people and always proves to be faithful to those promises. He is a consistently faithful God. The psalmist then prays that all the kings of the earth would hear God’s words and come to know and praise him. The truth will always win in the end because it is the truth. Lies may frustrate for a time but they cannot be maintained forever. Don’t ever stop talking about God to those who do not know him. Don’t give up on people who deny the truth. Lies only hinder people, they cannot empower them in any way. The truth by contrast is powerful and compelling. It has a way of seeping through the walls of arguments that people make against it. Like this psalmist, let your praise be a continual act of defiance of all that is false.
Ask God to give you opportunities to share your faith today.
Read Psalm 138.
