Psalms 115:12

The LORD hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. THE LORD HATH BEEN MINDFUL OF US - by releasing us from the Babylonian captivity. This group of psalms evidently alludes to some recent deliverance (Psalms 116:17: cf. Psalms 107:1, introductory notes). HE WILL BLESS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; HE WILL BLESS THE HOUSE OF AARON. This and is the three-fold response and acknowledgment of blessing, answering to the three-fold call to Israel collectively, the house of Aaron, and them that fear the Lord, to trust in Him, and so obtain the blessing ...

12_Jehovah hath remembered us _Many render the term _bless _in the past tense, _he has blessed, _it being the design of the prophet, according to them, to propose the past experience of God’s kindness as an encouragement to cherish good hope for the future: “We have already, from long experience, been taught how valuable the favor of our God is, because from this source alone have flowed our prosperity, our abundance, and our stability.” He assumes the principle, the truth of which ought to be admitted by all, that we neither enjoy prosperity nor happiness further than it pleases God to bless us. As often as the Israelites were rescued from manifold dangers, or succored in time of need, or treated in a friendly manner, so many palpable proofs had they of the loving-kindness of God towards them. As, however, there is no just cause to urge us to change the verb from the future into the pas...

9-18 It is folly to trust in dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help and a shield to those that trust in him. Wherever there is right fear of God, there may be cheerful faith in him; those who reverence his word, may rely upon it. He is ever found faithful. The greatest need his blessing, and it shall not be denied to the meanest that fear him. God's blessing gives an increase, especially in spiritual blessings. And the Lord is to be praised: his goodness is large, for he has given the earth to the children of men for their use. The souls of the faithful, after they are delivered from the burdens of the flesh, are still praising him; but the dead body cannot praise God: death puts an end to our glorifying him in this world of trial and conflict. Others are dead, and an end is thereby put to their service, therefore we will seek to do the more for God....

Verse Psalms 115:12. _THE LORD HATH BEEN MINDFUL_] He has never yet wholly abandoned us to our enemies. _HE WILL BLESS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL_] He will bless the people as a nation; he will bless the priesthood and Levites; he will bless all of them who fear him, great and small, in whatsoever station or circumstances found. There is a great deal of emphasis in this verse: several words are redoubled to make the subject the more affecting. I give a literal translation: - Psalms 115:12: "The Lord has been mindful of us he will bless the house of Israel; she will bless the house of Aaron. Psalms 115:13: He will bless them that fear Jehovah, the small with the

THE LORD HATH BEEN MINDFUL OF US - This would be especially appropriate if the psalm was written, as is commonly supposed, after the return from the captivity of Babylon. In such circumstances it would be every way proper to bring before the mind of the people the fact that God had remembered them and had delivered them. HE WILL BLESS US - Our past experience furnishes the fullest evidence that he will continue to bless us. He who has delivered us from so great calamities, and who has restored us to our native land after so long and so painful a captivity, will not forsake us now. There can be now no circumstances in which he cannot bestow on us all the blessings which we need; there will be none when we may not hope that he will bless us. If he could save us from such troubles, be can save us from all; if he did thus interpose, we may argue that he will always grant us his help when we...

EXPOSITION A LITURGICAL psalm, in which a divided choir, together with a leader—a priest or precentor—take separate parts. The occasion is one of danger (Psalms 115:2), but, at the same time, of confident hope and trust (Psalms 115:3, Psalms 115:9). A portion of the choir begin with an appeal to God for help against the heathen, whose vain worship of idols they cover with scorn (Psalms 115:1). The leader then exhorts to trust in God in the first clause of three consecutive verses (Psalms 115:9,...

THE LORD HATH BEEN MINDFUL OF US,.... The Targum is, "the Word of the Lord hath remembered us for good.'' And is another reason why his people should trust in him: he has been mindful of his covenant with them and promises to them, and has kept them; he remembered them in their low estate, and sent redemption to them; goodness and mercy have followed them all their days. Past experiences of divine favour should encourage trust in the Lord, as well as promises of future blessings, as follow: HE WILL BLESS US; with all kind of blessings, temporal and spiritual; with blessings indeed, solid and substantial: it is certain and may be depended upon; he has promised it, and swore to it, that in blessing he will bless. Kimchi interprets it as a wish, "let him bless": the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions, render it in the past tense, "he hath blessed"; but the Targum as...

Psalms 115:1. _Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased._ It was very natural that the heathen should say, «Where is their God?» because they had no outward emblem, no visible image, no tangible token; whereas the heathen had their gods many, such as they were, made of wood and stone; so that they asked, «Where is their God?» I think that when that question is suggested, it is a good sign, for it proves the purity of the faith which has cleansed itself from outward symbolism. May men often have to ask of us, «Where is their God?» But I fear that the people of Israel were brought into so low a state, at times, that this question was also asked in scorn and derision, «Where is

Psalms 115 Who Their God is? _ 1. Israel's God (Psalms 115:1)_ 2. In Contrast with Idols (Psalms 115:4) 3. O Israel Trust in the Lord (Psalms 115:9) Here Israel acknowledges her Saviour-Lord, unto Him alone is glory due. The nations had asked, Where is now their God? (Psalms 43:3; Psalms 79:10) The Contrast between the God of Israel and the dumb idols of the nations follows. But Israel's God, the Lord, who has delivered them, is the l

CXV. THE BLINDNESS OF IDOLATRY AND THE VIRTUE OF UTTER TRUST IN YAHWEH. Psalms 115:2 f. An invisible god was unintelligible to the average heathen; he believed that the god was specially present in the idol, his energy being focussed there. On the other hand, the heathen did not, as the Psalmist assumes, identify idol and god. Psalms 115:17, like Psalms 80:5, expressed the common Jewish belief that all connexion between God and man ends with the life that now is. After death God remembers us no more....