John Calvin Commentary Psalms 115:4

"Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men`s hands." — Psalms 115:4 (ASV)

Their idols This contrast is introduced to confirm the faith of the godly, by which they rely upon God alone; because, apart from him, all that human minds imagine of divinity is the invention of folly and delusion. To know the error and the madness of the world certainly contributes significantly to the confirmation of true godliness; at the same time, a God is presented to us whom we know assuredly to be the maker of heaven and earth, and whom we are to worship, not without reason or at random.

To more effectively silence the arrogance of the ungodly, who proudly presume to treat God and his chosen people as nothing, he contemptuously ridicules their false gods. First, he calls them idols—that is to say, things of nothing—and next, by showing from their being formed of inanimate materials, he demonstrates that they are lacking life and feeling.

For can there be anything more absurd than to expect assistance from them, since neither the materials from which they are formed, nor the form given to them by human hands, possess the smallest amount of divinity that would command respect for them? At the same time, the prophet implies that the value of the material does not give the idols more excellence, making them deserve to be more highly esteemed.

Hence, the passage may be translated adversatively, as follows: Though they are of gold and silver, yet they are not gods, because they are the work of human hands. If his intention had been merely to devalue the substance of which they were composed, he would rather have called them wood and stone; but in this instance, he speaks only of gold and silver.

Meanwhile, the prophet reminds us that nothing is more unfitting than for humans to claim they can impart essence, form, or honor to a god, since they themselves depend on another for that life which will soon disappear. From this it follows that the pagans boast in vain of receiving help from gods of their own making.

From where does idolatry originate, if not from the imaginations of humans? Having an abundance of materials available, they can make from their gold or silver not only a goblet or some other kind of vessel, but also vessels for more ordinary purposes; yet they prefer making a god.

And what can be more absurd than to convert a lifeless mass into some new deity? Besides, the prophet satirically adds that while the pagans fashion limbs for their idols, they cannot enable them to move or use them. For this reason, the faithful find their privilege all the more valuable, because the only true God is on their side, and because they are well assured that all the pagans boast in vain of the aid they expect from their idols, which are nothing but shadows.

This doctrine, however, should be understood more broadly. From it we learn, generally, that it is foolish to seek God through outward images, which have no resemblance or relation to his celestial glory. We must still adhere to this principle; otherwise, it would be easy for the pagans to complain that they were unjustly condemned because, though they make idols for themselves on earth, they still believed that God is in heaven.

They did not imagine that Jupiter was composed of stone, gold, or earth, but that he was merely represented by these likenesses. What was the origin of this form of address common among the ancient Romans, “To make supplication before the gods,” if not because they believed the images to be, as it were, the representations of the gods?

Cicero says, “The Sicilians have no gods before whom they can present their supplications.” He would not have spoken in this crude style if the notion had not been prevalent that the figures of the heavenly deities were represented to them in brass, silver, or marble.

Holding to the notion that in approaching these images the gods were nearer to them, the prophet justly exposes this ridiculous fancy: that they would enclose the Deity within corruptible representations. Nothing is more foreign to the nature of God than to dwell under stone, a piece of marble, wood, and a tree trunk, or brass, or silver.

For this reason, the prophet Habakkuk designates that crude mode of worshipping God as the school of falsehood (Habakkuk 2:18).

Moreover, the scornful manner in which he speaks of their gods deserves to be noticed: they have a mouth, but they do not speak. For why do we turn to God, if not from the conviction that we depend on him for life, that our safety is in him, and that the abundance of all good things and the power to help us are with him?

Since these images are senseless and motionless, what can be more absurd than to ask from them what they themselves are lacking?