Idols the Work of Human Hands
Captain's Log: Table Time ~ Saturday, September 20th, 2025 ~ Lauds
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;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
I was ready for a lighter (less stretching) table time after the week, and suspected the kids would be as well, so we turned to the psalms. The psalms are very helpful in that they can go either way. They can work well in longer or shorter sessions. In the longer sessions, we can drill down into them, looking for the argument, tracing the development/journey of the psalm. In the shorter sessions, simply reading the psalm can be effective because the psalms are so full of declarations and exhortations. Reading the psalm and then drawing attention to the central declaration and/or exhortation is already a sufficient time spent in the word before setting out in the morning, sealed by prayer.
As we were reading this morning, I noticed the potential in verses 4-13 for responsive reading, which our family traffics heavily in. Simple pauses when one notices this in Bible reading are enough to encourage the children to provide an answer. If the answer is a guess and is wrong, they will chuckle. If the answer is correct, well done, and keep moving.
After reading, I went back through this portion to press the point. ‘If an idol doesn’t have a mouth, can it speak to us?’ Loud protests in the negative. ‘If they don’t have eyes, can they watch over us?’ ‘No!’ ‘If they don’t have ears, can they hear our prayers?’ ‘If they don’t have noses, can they smell the fragrance of our offerings (Eph 5:1; Heb 13:16)? ‘If they don’t have hands, can they take us by the hand to lead us?’
Idols have nothing to offer us; they can do nothing for us. So unlike the Lord are idols. Why would we trust in them? And yet we are often tempted to put our trust in idols. This psalm is a great reminder of the folly of doing that.
We also lingered on the sobering reality that we become like what we worship. I thought of Chihiro's parents in Spirited Away, transforming into pigs through their greedy gorging. Eustace's 'dragoning' in Voyage of the Dawn Treader also comes to mind. He was a dragon as a boy before he turned into one. But those who worship the Lord become like Him - are remade after his image (Rom 8:29; Col 3:10). What an invitation.
We sang a little bit of Speak O Lord - the God who does speak to His people - and Awake My Soul and With the Sun. I then prayed through the Psalm, giving thanks for its promises and warnings.
Full little catechism of Psalm 115 here.