Trusting false gods

The idols of the nations are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them are like them; So is everyone who trusts in them. – Psalm 135v15-18

Here the psalmist speaks of the worthlessness of trusting in false idol. There are the works of man’s hands. They have eyes, but they can’t see, they have ears, but can’t hear, and so on. They are dead. Those who make them and those who trust them are dead as well.

While a lot of eastern cultures would immediately see this issue of idol worship we in the west don’t to think of ourselves as idolaters. After all, most of us don’t light incense and bow down to pray before carved or cast images.

That does not mean that we are not still depending on cold, dead, lifeless, and useless gods. Colossians 3v5 warns us against covetousness, which it calls idolatry. The question we have to ask ourselves if our modern idolatry is really the same as the idolatry the psalmist talks about.

When we think I about it we will see that the dangers are the same. Our idols are the thing we covet. We covet fame and fortune. We covet success and stuff. If we follow the media it seems like these are the things that can help us. They speak of great things. They look great. They make great promises.

But just like the gold and silver idols the psalmist talks about these gods are cold and dead and hopeless and helpless. Anyone who trusts in the them will find themselves in the same boat.