Favor · the best way to learn the Bible
Psalm 115 Bible study: Not to us
Psalm 115 answers the nations' "Where is their God, now?" (115:2) with a God in the heavens who does whatever he pleases, and idols with mouths, eyes, ears, noses, hands and feet that use none of them. Those who make them, and all who trust them, will be like them. Three times the psalm calls, "trust in the LORD!", and three times it answers, "He is their help and their shield" (115:9-11).
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the words behind the words, what most readers miss, and how it all leads to Jesus.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
“Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake.”
Try it · Did you catch it?
“Psalm 115 says the idols have hands, but they don’t feel.”
Is that in Psalm 115, or not? Make your call.
What's really going on
Not to us
The psalm has no title, and it doesn't name who speaks. It begins with a people's voice, us, turned to the LORD: "Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for your loving kindness, and for your truth’s sake" (115:1) (tap glory). Then it names what is being said about them: "Why should the nations say, “Where is their God, now?”" (115:2). The answer comes at once: "But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases" (115:3) (tap pleases). The same voice comes back later as us and we: "The LORD remembers us. He will bless us" (115:12), and "but we will bless the LORD, from this time forward and forever more" (115:18).
Where it leads to Jesus
Not his own glory
Psalms 115:1leads toJohn 7:18
Teaching in the temple (John 7:14), Jesus said, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me" (John 7:16), and "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory, but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and no unrighteousness is in him" (John 7:18). The psalm begins, "Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory" (Psalm 115:1). John doesn't name the psalm, so setting the two side by side is a reading. It rests on a shared subject, glory sought for God and not for oneself, not on a shared word. One reading hears the psalm's "Not to us" in Jesus's words: glory sought for the one who sent him, not for himself. Another reads John 7:18 as Jesus speaking of a teacher and where his teaching comes from (John 7:16-17), a different matter from a people's prayer for the LORD's name before the nations (Psalm 115:2), and sees no link to this psalm. These notes don't choose between them, and they don't make the psalm's speakers a picture of Jesus.
Honest questions
Questions people ask about Psalm 115
That was a taste
The rest of Psalm 115 is waiting in Favor
- Their idols, and our God
- Three calls, one answer
- Heaven, earth, and silence
- Beside Psalm 135
- Deuteronomy and Jeremiah on idols
- 11 questions as you read
- 10 more Hebrew words
- A short check at the end
- Your notes, saved as you go
Favor reads the Bible in order, so you'll reach Psalm 115 with everything before it in view. First week free, then $10 a month per person.
The Hebrew word behind it
בָּטַחbatachsay ba-TAKH
Brown-Driver-Briggs: "trust", and "be confident". Strong's: "figuratively, to trust, be confident or sure". The psalm has it four times. First of idols: "yes, everyone who trusts in them" (115:8). Then three calls: "Israel, trust in the LORD!" (115:9), "House of Aaron, trust in the LORD!" (115:10), and "You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD!" (115:11). The psalm uses one verb for trusting idols and for trusting the LORD. Psalm 4's and Psalm 56's notes follow it in those psalms (Psalm 4:5, 56:3).
For your group
Psalm 115 Bible study questions
- 1"Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory" (115:1). Where are you most tempted to take the credit for something God has done?
- 2"Those who make them will be like them; yes, everyone who trusts in them" (115:8). What do you find yourself trusting in when things get hard? What is it making you like?
- 3"but we will bless the LORD, from this time forward and forever more" (115:18). What would it look like for you to bless the LORD this week, starting now?
Leading a group? In Favor, everyone reads Psalm 115 during the week and answers these questions privately. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together, and you can print the week's sheet.
Start a Bible studyThe best way to learn the Bible
Favor opens up every chapter as you read.
Favor is a Bible study app for your phone or computer. It takes you through the Bible one chapter at a time, a few minutes a day, and shows you what's really there: the words behind the words, the moments most people miss, and how the whole story fits together. For you. For everyone.
Every chapter explains itself
As you read, short notes open up what's really going on, the details most readers walk past, and the honest questions people ask.
The Hebrew and Greek behind it
Tap a highlighted word to see the original, how to say it, and what it means, checked against the original-language texts.
Every page leads to Jesus
Watch promises made in Genesis kept in Jesus. Each line lights up on your map as you read.
Better together
Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church. Answers stay sealed until you meet, then appear together.
- 1
Start your free week
Sign up in a minute with your email.
- 2
Read a few minutes a day
Each chapter opens itself up as you go. Tap what you're curious about.
- 3
Bring your people, if you like
Send one link. Everyone reads the same chapter, then meets to talk.
First week free, then $10 a month per person
Questions
What is Favor?
Favor is a Bible study app that explains every chapter as you read: the Hebrew and Greek behind the words, the details most readers miss, and how each part of the Bible leads to Jesus. Read on your own, or start a Bible study with friends, family or your church.
How much does it cost?
Your first week is free. After that it's $10 a month per person, the same for everyone, including groups and churches. There are no tiers and nothing extra to unlock.
Can I read Psalm 115 straight away?
Favor takes the Bible as one story, in order, so you'll reach Psalm 115 with everything that leads up to it in view. Start from Genesis, or meet Jesus first in the Gospels. You can read the text of any chapter in Favor's Look up whenever you like.
Do I need a group?
No. Many people read on their own. If you'd like to read with others, start a Bible study and share one link. Everyone's answers stay private until you meet.
I've never really read the Bible. Is this for me?
Yes. Favor starts where you are and explains as it goes. The questions along the way aren't marked right or wrong: you answer, then see what the text shows.
Which Bible does Favor use?
The World English Bible, a modern, readable translation in the public domain. God's name appears as "the LORD", as in most English Bibles.
Is Favor tied to a church?
No. Favor is non-denominational. Where Christians read a passage differently, it shows the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Start with Psalm 115
The best way to learn the Bible. For you. For everyone.
There's a seat for you at the table.
Start your free weekFirst week free, then $10 a month per person · Log in
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Hebrew and Greek words are checked against the original-language texts and public-domain lexicons. What we believe · Favor home