Psalm 135:15-17

Psalm 135:15-17

Pointless idols

These verses are condensed for our consideration for we do not need to spend days thinking about the pointlessness of idols! In many cultures throughout time, right up to the present day, idol worship has been at the heart of people’s belief systems. When missionaries first started to visit primitive peoples in unexplored corners of the continents, they often found a plethora of images, statues and effigies made to represent many gods and superstitions. The whole point of taking the gospel to these places was, of course, to point these people to the one, true God. What is thought-provoking is that even the most primitive communities felt the need to worship and venerate someone or something. 

It's interesting to note from our verses, that idols are usually constructed from valuable materials. Silver and gold are the most obvious choices, and they reflect the desire in the human heart to give the best to the gods who are worshipped. The problem is that all of these things, these statues and icons, are constructed from created materials meant to characterise the particular god they represent. Even today the statues of Buddha are everywhere, and the temples of many religions house effigies and adornments that symbolise something about their gods. I’m sorry to say that Christianity is just as guilty as the rest! All these things are pointless and meaningless; some are even driven by demons, none of them have any power whatsoever, compared with our God! Paul sums up the problem very well in Romans 1 where he describes the wickedness of men who refuse to worship the one, true God. 

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:21-25.

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