Soaring

“All you who fear the Lord, trust the Lord! 
He is your helper and your shield. 
He will bless those who fear the Lord, 
both great and lowly. 
May the Lord richly bless both you and your children.
The dead cannot sing praises to the Lord, 
or they have gone into the silence of the grave. 
But we can praise the Lord 
both now and forever! 
Praise the Lord!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭115:11, 13-14, 17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

After expounding the attributes of God, answering the question he had obviously been asked by those around them – “Where is your God?” – the Psalmist continues by contrasting idols, inert lumps of precious metal, with the vibrant wonder of God. The Psalmist lists the qualities of idols, or rather the lack of them, and then finishes this section with the thought that the makers of idols are just like them, lifeless. So when the reader gets this far in the psalm, he is presented with the stark contrast between the living God and lifeless idols, and the pointlessness of putting trust in dead and immovable objects. 

But the Psalmist wastes no further time in the discussion, desperately impatient to focus and expound on God being the Helper and Shield, the totally trustworthy Creator God. In effect the Psalm itself comes to life, abandoning further talk of idols and preferring to focus on God Himself. It’s almost as though the world and its focus on worldly objects is left on the tarmac as our spiritual airliner takes off into the God-void above, where God rules and determines our environment. Those left on the tarmac missed the flight. They didn’t even know that there was one. But God’s people were on board the airliner and soared into the blessings above. Soaring on wings like eagles, effortlessly supported by the wind of God’s Spirit. 

The Psalmist briefly dips back into the thought that, like their idols, those that make them are heading for a silent grave. A grave where singing praises to God is not an option. But those soaring above continue to praise God eternally. Of course, we know that one day the graves will give up their dead and those within them will have a brief encounter with God before heading to their eternal home, a home especially built for idolators. But God’s people will continue to soar in the multi-dimensional environment where God lives. What else can we do except “Praise the Lord!” O, and by the way, the precious metal used to make idols on earth, is used for covering roads in Heaven. Hmmm..