“Not to us, oh Lord. Not to us, but to your name, give glory. For the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Why should the nation say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak. Eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear. Noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel. Feet, but do not walk. And they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them. So do all who trust in them.”
– Psalm 115:1–8
I’m going to read today from Psalm 115:1-8. And I’m going to pray these verses, especially in light of Secret Church that is happening tonight. If you are not already sound out to be a part of Secret Church, I want to invite you to go to secretchurch.org. It’s going to be pretty awesome, Lord, willing to gather together remotely with around 50,000 other people, we really are unable to track exactly how many people, but that many are registered to be a part of this gathering from all kinds of countries around the world.
Every state in the United States, countries like Afghanistan and Syria and Zambia and Nepal and Kyrgyzstan. I could go on and on and on with the list. But to gather with tens of thousands of others, brothers and sisters in Christ around the world, open up His Word and to pray. And we’re going to pray specifically for unreached people, places in the world where the gospel’s not gone and places in the world where when the gospel goes, there will involve much persecution. Places in the world where Jesus is not known and all kinds of other gods are being worshiped.
Psalm 115:1–8 Prays for the Gospel to Reach All Nations
In light of that, I want to read and pray Psalm 115. Again, if you want to be a part of Secret Church, go to secretchurch.org. You can do it all the way up through the time it starts at seven Eastern Time.
But Psalm 115:1–8 says, “Not to us, oh Lord. Not to us, but to your name, give glory. For the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Why should the nation say, “Where is their God?” Our God is in the heavens. He does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak. Eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear. Noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel. Feet, but do not walk. And they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them. So do all who trust in them.”
The One True God
Oh God, we praise you as the one, true God. As the one God who is worthy of all glory. The one God over all the nations. We praise you especially during these days of a global pandemic that we have the privilege of coming to you, praying to you, worshiping you and you have all power. You have all knowledge. God, you have all wisdom. You are all loving.
You are true. And all other gods in the world are none of these things. They’re false gods, who have no power, who have no wisdom, who cannot speak. They have ears, but do not hear. Noses, but do not smell. Hands, they do not feel. They are made by man. You are the God who made man and woman. And you created every single one of us for your glory. God, we pray together right now for people. People, groups around the world that have little to no knowledge of Jesus.
Psalm 115:1–8 Encourages Sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ
Little to no knowledge of you as the one, true God. Who are worshiping all kinds of false gods, may the good news of who you are and all of your glory and all your grace spread, we pray to the ends of the earth. We pray that you would bless this Secret Church gathering tonight toward that end, that you would awaken hearts to see your great glory, to see the great need among the nations, and to go. To go, to pray, to give, to spend our lives and our families and our churches, all that you’ve given to us for the spread of your glory in the world.
God, we pray that your name would be glorified. Psalm 115:1, not to us, oh lord, not to us, but to your name, give glory. May your name be glorified in all the earth for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness, that the good news of your love in Christ and your faithfulness to your promises, your goodness to all who trust in you. May this good news be made known among the nations. Please, please, oh, God use our lives, use this gathering tonight at Secret Church, use our families, use our churches to make your glory known among the nations, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.
We pray Psalm 115:1–8 in gratitude to and in worship of you, the one, true God overall. We love and exalt your name alone. In Jesus’ name, we pray. The name of the one, true God made flesh. In his name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
