3.1 Key themes⤒🔗

• Even if you are a true believer in Christ, you will still have to fight against idolatry every day.
• Like the people in the time of the Old Testament, we still:
  - take good things from God’s creation and make gods out of them,
  - by putting our trust in them.
• False gods promise to give us the life that we need.
• False gods always disappoint and destroy us.
• God is different from false gods.
  - He has all the power.
  - He is faithful to those who trust in him.

3.2 Psalm 115←⤒🔗

^1. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name bring honour, for the sake of your loyal love and faithfulness.

^2. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

^3. Our God is in heaven. He does whatever he pleases.

^4. Their idols are made of silver and gold—they are man-made.

^5. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see,

^6. ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell,

^7. hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats.

^8. Those who make them will end up like them, as will everyone who trusts in them.

^9. O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector.

^10. O family of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector.

^11. You loyal followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their deliverer and protector.

^12. The Lord takes notice of us; he will bless—he will bless the family of Israel, he will bless the family of Aaron.

^13. He will bless his loyal followers, both young and old.

^14. May he increase your numbers, yours and your children’s.

^15. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth.

^16. The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.

^17. The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any of those who descend into the silence of death.

^18. But we will praise the Lord now and forevermore. Praise the Lord!

© NET Bible

3.3 A look at where we are←⤒🔗

In the first two lessons of this Bible study, we tried to get a better understanding of idolatry. Here are some of the things that we have learned:

• We may have no other gods, because God is the only true God and he has saved us to belong to him.
• Idolatry begins deep in our hearts, when we are no longer satisfied with God.
• Two causes of idolatry are forgetting and unfaithful leaders.
• God is the only fountain of life-giving water. False gods will always disappoint us.
• To turn away from our false gods, we must put our trust in Jesus Christ every day.

It is easy to speak about these truths. But it is not always easy to live by these truths. Our hearts are full of evil (Psalm 14:1–3). Deep in our hearts, we continually make false gods for ourselves.

Even if you are a true believer in Christ, you will still have to fight against idolatry every day. Every day you will have to turn away from your false gods and turn to God, the fountain of life-giving water.

We hope that Lessons 3–5 will help you in your fight against idolatry. In Lesson 3 (this lesson) we will help you to discover some of the false gods in your own life. From Psalm 115 you will also discover what false gods do to the people who worship them.

3.4 Discovering the false gods in your life←⤒🔗

Please take some time to think about these questions:

• What makes my life worth living?
• What is my reason for getting up in the mornings?
• What helps me through difficult times?
• What makes me angry or worried?
• What (or who) can I not live without?
• What is my greatest fear?
• What is my greatest wish?
• What do I think about most of the time?

These questions can help you to see what you really trust in. Many of the things that we trust in, are good things. For example: Children are a good gift from God. But if we start to trust in our children, then we are busy with idolatry. If we say, “I cannot live without my children!” then our children have become our god.

To understand this better, we can think about Psalm 115:4: “Their idolsare made of silver and gold—they are man-made.” Are silver and gold bad things? No. They are part of God’s good creation. God gave them to us, so that we can glorify his name with them.

But what did people do in the time of the Old Testament? When they found gold and silver, they did not use it to glorify and serve God. They made gods out of the gold and silver! Of course, these gods were false gods. They were not real. They came from the minds and the hands of people.

Maybe we do not make gods of silver and gold. But we take other things from God’s good creation, such as family, children, money, sex, food, and work. We make false gods out of these things. We put our trust in them. Soon they become even more important to us than God.

3.5 False gods make many promises←⤒🔗

Why do we make false gods for ourselves? In Lesson 1 we saw that we make false gods because we think that false gods can give us what we need.

For example, think about a man who trusts in his job. He always thinks about his work. He is never there for his family because he is always working. Why does he do this? It is because he thinks that his job can give him what he needs. Maybe he thinks that his job can give him the money that he needs. Or maybe he thinks that his job will give him the power and respect that he needs.

Or think about a young girl who is always looking for a husband. She worships the idea of marriage. Why? Because she thinks that a husband will give her the life that she needs.

False gods make many promises! They promise to give us the life that we really want.

3.6 False gods always disappoint←⤒🔗

Hear what Psalm 115:5–7 says about false gods:

They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see, ears, but cannot hear, noses, but cannot smell, hands, but cannot touch, feet, but cannot walk. They cannot even clear their throats.

False gods may look powerful. They may make a lot of promises. But in the end, they are powerless. They are just the work of human hands (Psalm 115:4). They cannot give us the happiness or the peace that we need. They always disappoint us.

False gods do not only disappoint us. They destroy us. Psalm 115:8 says, “Those who make them will end up like them.” If you make a false god for yourself, that god will take over your life. You will end up like your god: false and powerless.

3.7 God is different←⤒🔗

The God of the Bible was not made by human hands. He is the living God who rules “in heaven” (Psalm 115:3). He truly has the power to help and protect (Psalm 115:9–11). He truly has the power to bless (Psalm 115:12–15). And he will never disappoint those who trust in him. He is always faithful to his people (Psalm 115:1).

Therefore, let us give all the glory to the true God. Let us stop fearing other things. Let us stop trusting in other things. “You loyal followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord” (Psalm 115:11).