You have your outline there in front of you. And we're continuing our study through the longest book of the Bible. We've been in it almost a couple of years, actually a little over a couple of years. And this is our second time going through the whole book of Psalms. We did it 10 years ago, and it took a little over three years to go through it. And so we are happily journeying through the wonderful God-given hymnal that we call the Psalms. Psalm 115, oh, this is such a great psalm, a big God psalm, a God-glorifying psalm. To God alone be the glory is how I titled our study tonight. Let me read the psalm. I wanna put it before you and then I will preach it verse by verse. Psalm 115. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your loving kindness, because of your truth. Why should the nation say, where now is their God? But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of man's hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. They have noses, but they cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. They have feet, but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound with their throat. Those who make them will become like them, everyone who trusts in them. Oh, Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Oh, Hazaverin, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great. May the Lord give you increase, you and your children, and may you be blessed of the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth he has given to the sons of men the dead, do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence, but as for us, we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forever. Praise the Lord. Maybe you know that verse. It would be fitting to read Romans 11 36 for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria. I hope you've heard of that phrase. Soli Deo Gloria. It means to God alone be the glory. All of life, including every aspect of your salvation, is to be for the glory of God alone. It is a motto that came, as you know, out of the Protestant Reformation in the early 16th century and spread all throughout Europe and the world. It recovered the biblical gospel of justification by faith alone from the dark claws of the damning Roman Catholic doctrine. And as this wonderful truth that salvation is a work of God, and He does that work for His own glory, and not only in salvation, but in all of life, everything is to result in the glory of God and God alone. The work of salvation is of God. To Him alone be the glory. The walk of the Christian is to be for the glory of God, to Him alone be the glory. And so I want to mention that. I want to preach that tonight so that you would grab hold of the doctrine, so that you would cling to this great truth, that you would believe it, that you would give your life to this amazing life-altering truth. Everything is for the glory of God. your marriage, your work, how you handle money, how you handle time, your work ethic, everything, our parenting, everything that we do, the big things, the small things, our worship of God, our discipleship, our evangelism, everything we do for the glory of God alone. You know that. Soli Deo Gloria. There was once a young man who came to a pastor And he came up front and he said to the pastor, I want to live to the glory of God alone, but how do I do that? What does it look like in my life? I'm a young man. I'm an unmarried man. I live at home. What do I need to know? What do I need to do? The pastor said, young man, in the morning when you rise up out of bed, thank God that he protected you through the night. And then you thank God that his mercies are new towards you every day, and you begin your day by reading the word, and you bless God that he guides you and directs you and gives gospel mercies to you. And then, young man, you must take a shower in the morning, and you must bless God for the common grace of being clean, and then you should thank him for cleansing you in Christ. And then you ride your bike to class. And as you're riding your bike to class, you thank God for a body to move, and you remember that you are similarly journeying on to heavenly glory. And then you sit in class, and you thank God that he gave you a mind to think, and a Bible to have, and truth to know, and a God to love, and he gives you discernment for life. And then you have lunch, and you thank God that he gives you your daily bread. And then you meet with your friends, and you laugh with your friends, and you thank God for the grace of friendship, and laughter, and enjoyment, and happiness, and fun. And then toward the end of the day, you go to the gym. You work out. And you thank God that you can push yourself, and work hard, and you can sweat, and you can be strong. And while you're doing that, you ask God to give you strength in the difficulties of your spiritual journey. And then you go home. And you go home for dinnertime. And then when you arrive there, you remember, I am here to serve my family. How can I bless? How can I serve? How can I die to myself? How can I minister to others? How can I do something meaningful yet unexpected for other people? The pastor said, young man, put your phone down. He said, turn down the TV. He said, look people in the eye and ask them a meaningful question. Listen to their day. You seem interested. You respect them. And then before you go to bed at night, you fill your mind and your heart and your thoughts, not with the things of the world, but with the things of God, again in the Word, and you do it again the next day. That's how you live to the glory of God. All of life lived for the glory of God. Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or go to the gym, have your meetings, sing God's praises, board the airplane, change a diaper, do the dishes, vacuum the floor, drink your coffee. All that you do, it can be done to the glory of God. Psalm 115 is gonna teach that. Psalm 115, I love the way one commentator put it. I mean, it's so helpful. He said, it is the Psalm of God's unchallengeable glory. The unchallengeable glory of God. God is great. God is glorious. And all of life should be lived for the praise of God and God alone. But I want to help you. There are a lot of details here. 18 verses worth of details. But I want to give you a little bit of bookends. Kind of make it easier. Verse 1 and verse 18. I call it, I call it the us psalm, the us psalm. Because in verse 1, not to us be the glory, not to us. Look at the end, verse 18. But as for us, we will bless God. Verse 1, no glory to us, all to God. Verse 18, we will glorify and praise God. And everything sandwiched in the middle will tell you how to do that. Everything in the middle will tell you that all glory goes to God alone. And we sing of the glory. I'm preaching on glory. We probably have shirts that have, to God be the glory on it. What does the word glory mean biblically? It speaks of the worth of God. The glory of God is the dignity of God, the honor of God. Or, let's just summarize it. It's the Godhood of God. It's what makes God to be God. The glory of God is the sum total of all of the beauties of God that makes up the worth of God. There's nothing more important in all of the universe than the glory of God. This is big God theology. What I wanna do tonight is I wanna give you, I wanna give you just some practical instructions for your life to be about the glory of God. You're busy. school, work, meetings, travels, parenting, all that you've got going on. What are helpful, practical instructions so that your life can be about God? Let me just help you tonight as we sort of journey through the psalm together. Four really practical instructions. Number one, give glory to God. Give glory. to God. Notice in verse 1, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give the glory because of your love and because of your truth. Why should the nation say, where is their God? But our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. You would be in good company if you said, the life motto for all of my being is to God alone be the glory. to God alone be the glory. Jonathan Edwards lived for the glory of God. John Piper has stood on Edwards' shoulders with that as well. That we must give praise to the beauty of God, the worth of God. We must give glory to God by honoring His worth. Verse 1, not to us, Not to us, but to Yahweh, to your name, Yahweh, be the glory. Mentioned twice for emphasis. This is hard. That means you and I get no glory. That means you and I get no praise. That means that we deflect all glory to God. That means that we ought not to be in the spotlight. It goes to God and Him alone. We deflect the honor and the praise and the grandeur and the worth to the only one who is infinitely worthy, and that's God. But that's impossible for people to do because we love ourselves way too much. But only a spirit indwelt, child of God, who has been made new by the work of the Holy Spirit wants to live for the glory of God. We do this because of his love. We do it because of God's truth. We honor God for who he is. Oh, I'd love in verse one to tell you how that's a sweeping allusion back to Exodus chapter 34, the attributes of God, the God who is loving kindness and truth and faithful and such a good God. But wait a minute, verse 2. Why would the nations mock? Why should they say, where is our God? We want to live for the glory of God, but why do people mock us? Where is your God? We've got our idol. Philistines had their idols, Dagon. Babylonians had their god, Marduk. The Moabites had their god Baal. On and on it goes. They've got their statues. They've got their carvings. They've got their gods. They can wash them. They can form them. They can chisel them. They can make them big and tall, however they want. They can make as many gods as they want. Where's your god, Israel? They mock. Your god is invisible. Yours is a no-god. No, look at verse three, perhaps one of the greatest verses, maybe God's favorite verse, on the freedom of God's absolute sovereignty. Our God is in the heavens and he does whatever he pleases. Oh, we could spend an eternity talking about that verse. That God has an infinite freedom to do what he wants. And not only does God do what He wants, He does what He delights in. Our God is a happy God. The saving of souls every moment of your life is to the glory of God and the pleasure of God and the delight of God, even the trials, because they come with purpose for our good. It's like a prism that births forth and all the colorful beauties. There is the intrinsic glory of God, meaning God is beautiful in and of himself. But then after the intrinsic beauty, theologians call it the revealed glory of God. The heavens are revealing the glory of God. Everything that God has made is just shouting forth, God is powerful. Romans 1 says that as well. But there's intrinsic glory, revealed glory, and then there is ascribed glory. Give glory to God. We don't give God anything. God is not lacking. We don't supply something to God that He needs. That would be blasphemy. God is totally happy in and of himself. What we do when we give God glory is we are recognizing, we are affirming, we are offering our praises and our honor to God. Not to us, but to you alone, Yahweh. Give the glory. We don't add anything to God, we don't make God anything, but we honor and revere and praise and delight in God's beauties. So, okay, give God glory. How do we glorify God? A few simple ways. You live whatever you do. with excellence. You do it excellently. You excel to your very best. And with that, you glorify God by humbly learning and respecting and honoring the authorities that God has put over your life. And then you glorify God by doing even the smallest of things faithfully. And you're glad in God. You delight in God. Oh, the psalm begins with this great us, not to us. No, no, no, not to us. We deflect. We want to give all glory to God. What's another helpful way that we can live for God? Look in your outline, number two, not just should we, number one, give glory to God, number two, guard yourself from idolatry. In verses 4 to 8, guard yourself from idolatry. This is almost a laughable section. I think it's humorous. Verses 4 to 8, their idols. Notice verse 3, our God is in the heavens. Notice verse 4, the contrast, their idols. Well, they're silver and gold in the work of men's hands. Our God is alive. Their idols have no life. Our God is sovereign and their idols are stupid. Well, what does that mean? What do you mean they're stupid? Well, let's just begin at the end of verse four. It's the work of men's hands. So guess what? If you can carve an idol, guess what? You have become your own God to try to make your own. The work of men's hands. Look at the stupidity of these carved idols. Verse 5. They have mouths, they have eyes, they have ears, they have noses, they have hands, they have feet. They can't even move or see or smell or touch or walk at all. But here's the kicker. The kicker is in verse 8. All those who make them become like them. So here's the simple phrase. You become like what you worship. You become like what you worship. What is the psalmist saying? If you're gonna worship idols, you're gonna be full of emptiness. You're gonna be full of vanity. You're gonna be full of darkness. You're gonna have no life. You're gonna do nothing good. That's a terrible, terrible thing. Isaiah 57. Verse 13 says this. God is mocking idolaters. Here's what God says. When you cry, let your idols deliver you. Let your idols deliver you. Rather, the wind is going to carry up your idols, and the wind is going to take your idols away. I mean, what folly of idolatry. You know what, though, church family? It really didn't become real to me until I went to India. And you go to the kitchens in India, and the kitchens in India have these cabinets where they have their God. In India, the kitchen, they've got a cabinet that houses their God. Or you go to the animistic parts of the mountainous region of Myanmar, and the homes have a little back corner where the evil spirits can be cast away through different spells and different chants and different sort of rites. And I thought, idolatry is alive and well, but not only there, you and I might not have a statue in our home. You and I might not have a carving in our home. You and I know that our world is, our culture is saturated with idolatry in every shape and form. Anything people would love more than God, other than God. But the Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonian church, speaking of their salvation, you turned to God from idols in order to serve the living and the true God. Isn't that a great picture of a Christian? Whatever place of life, whatever background, you have turned to God from your idols. Why? To serve the living and the true God. Apostle John said, my little children, guard yourselves from idols. You become like what you worship. We don't want to worship idols, but you know what we do want to become like? The image of Christ. The more that we see Him and behold Him and love Him, we will be transformed into His image from one degree of glory to the next. 2 Corinthians 3. Well, we want to live for God's glory. We need these instructions. Number one, give glory to God. Number two, guard yourself from idolatry. And maybe tonight as you're going to bed, maybe tomorrow morning in your own time with God, think through what are those little I idols, those little idols, those little things that I am tempted to worship in my life. It could be power. It could be control. It could be respect. It could be sex. It could be a good thing that becomes a God thing. It could be a desire that becomes a craving and a demand. Maybe think on that and reflect on that and bring it before the Lord and say, oh, merciful Father, forgive me. And He will. And He will. Third, the psalm teaches us not only to give glory to God and guard yourself from idolatry. Third, grow strong in trust. Verses 9 through 15. Our God is sovereign. He's not a dumb idol. So guess what the logical conclusion is? Trust Him. Trust Him. I mean, verse 9, you see it here. Verse 9 to 11, oh Israel, trust the Lord. Verse 10, house of Aaron, trust the Lord. Verse 11, you who fear the Lord. These are probably the pious Israelites, the godly ones who gave their whole lives of devotion to God. Trust the Lord. Why? He is their help and their shield. Their help and their shield. That means that God is your protector and your provider. He is your help and your shield. What does it mean to trust in God? What does it mean when the psalmist says, trust in the Lord? It means that you attach yourself to the Lord, that you lean fully upon the Lord, that you are standing upon the ground of God. Not the ground of the world, not the ground of self, not the ground of emotion or feeling, not the ground of what other people want you to be, but you're leaning hard and standing fully upon God. and you trust in God because he's your help, he's your shield, he's your protector, he's your provider. Our God is in the heavens and he can provide for all of your needs, so trust in him. Boys and girls, children, no word could ever be more needed for you than to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways, acknowledge God, and he will make your path straight. Oh, trust in the Lord. And notice what God does. Do you see it here in your Bible in verse 12? The Lord is mindful of us, which is a way of saying God remembers you. Isn't that great? Maybe there are people you met 20 years ago that have forgotten you. but not your God. He remembers you. He is mindful of you. And then the repeated word, you see it there in your own Bible, verses 12 through 15, God will bless, God will bless, God will bless. I mean, underline it in your Bible or highlighted that God is eager to bless you. He is eager, that means to fulfill his promises to you. that he will show kindness to you. Don't ever think that God doesn't want to do that. He does. And we trust in our Savior. We trust in our Lord. We trust in a perfect substitute. We trust in our mighty rock. We trust in the one who justifies by faith. We trust in the cross. We delight in God's glory. It's all for his praise. And we trust in him. He has shown himself to be faithful. He is our shield. He is our Lord. He is our helper. He is our provider. We trust in him. He is worthy. Church family, what does the psalm want us to do? Grow strong in trust. It's a good way to hear and a good way to pray. Lord, don't let me trust in my money today. Don't let me trust in my physical health today. Don't let me trust in my political leaders today. Don't let me trust in my own intellect today and my own plan and my calendar and my agendas. I have to trust in you. Great, great way to pray. And then really the psalm, the psalm leads to this great conclusion in verses 16 to 18. What are these principles for life? What are these very helpful pointers that we need to know? We certainly want to glorify God and guard ourself from idolatry and grow strong in trust. And then your outline number four, we gather together, we gather corporately to praise. Remember verse 1, not to us, not to us. And now verse 18, but as for us, we, notice the we, we will bless the Lord. This is the congregation. We will bless God. This is a great final word to bless God together. Notice how great God is. Verse 16, the heavens are the heavens of the Lord and the earth he has given to the sons of men. He's called you and me to be stewards of this world. And then verse 17, what a great verse. What a great verse. Look at it in your Bible. Verse 17, it's teaching your time is short. Oh, the dead don't praise the Lord, nor do any who go down to silence. This is not teaching afterlife truth. What this is teaching is what the dead cannot do on earth, meaning they can't praise God because they've died. We will do it with our lives. You have one life to live while here on earth, only one life. Use it for God. Praise God, because when you die, you're gone. So on earth, if in your life, if you're gonna live to the praise and glory of God, then do it. Do it. Do it now. That's verse 17. The dead, those that have passed on, they don't praise God. They're not alive anymore. They've passed. But while we are here, let's praise God. And let's do it, verse 18, with all of our might. We will bless the Lord from now until forevermore. Praise the Lord. I love reading about John Calvin. He was a young man, great preacher of the Word, faithful theologian. If you were to sum up the life of John Calvin, Perhaps it could be in this phrase, a life lived with zeal to show forth the glory of God. Or, John Calvin's own words, I endeavor to do only that in my life which furthers the glory of God. I mean, what a great way to live life. I only want to do that which will further the glory of God. I only want to do that which will enhance the glory of God. I mean, that would cut out a whole lot of things. Martin Lloyd-Jones, when he was commenting on the life of John Calvin, Lloyd-Jones said that the great truth for John Calvin was the sovereignty of God and the glory of God. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name alone be the glory. May that be your mantra. You think of Christ, what he's done for you. He came to you first. He didn't wait for you to love him. He didn't wait for you to beautify yourself. He didn't wait for you to be worthy enough. He came to you. And He showered His love and sovereign mercy upon you. And then He came in human flesh and He came to die for you because the Father had given you to Him. And then He gave the Holy Spirit to live in you forever. And He guarantees your eternal security and shields you from the vengeance of God, as we heard earlier. All glory be to our Savior. All glory be to Him. You know, practically, when God uses you in your life, when God works through you, when God teaches you, when God allows you to bless other people in your life, maybe a fitting thing is to learn from the example of William Wilberforce, that British politician in the early 19th century, a great Christian statesman of history, fought against the evils of slavery, wanted to outlaw it in the land of England. His favorite Psalm was 115. His favorite verse in all the Bible was Psalm 115, verse one. It was in 1807 when parliament passed the bill for the abolition of the slave trade wherever that British flag flew. The way that William Wilberforce, this great political man, this great statesman that he was, the way that he responded to that political victory was he went and he opened his Bible. And he opened to Psalm 115 verse one. And he read it, and he read it, and he meditated on it, and he prayed over it. And he said, not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name, give the glory. What a great example. It's not about me. It's not about my work, not about my effort, not about my labors, not about my agenda. My chief, my immediate response, Wilberforce said, is all for the glory of God. Not to absorb the glory, but to deflect the glory. All of it goes back to God. May that be true. Dads and moms, grandmas, grandpas, men and women, young and old, single and married, retired, younger, boys and girls, that our life mantra would be soli deo gloria, to God and to God alone be the glory. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the power, the riveting truth of Your Word. We now want to pray. We want to reflect on Your Word. We want to pray for the church. We want to pray for the lost. And we want to pray, O God, that You would be glorified, not to us, not to us, but to Your name alone. Yahweh, Jehovah, the only true God, may You alone receive glory. Amen.