Psalm 115:16-17 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
Don’t Put It Off
An idol is a god that we have created. God is the One Who created us, and therein lies the difference between God and an idol. Any god that I can make is not worthy of the name because I am the one who is doing the creating. Sometimes we take the Creator, the true God, and fashion Him in our minds in our likeness instead of living as what we are, creations that have been created in His likeness.
Psalm 115 talks about the difference between the one true God and the gods that we can make. The Bible says that those that make idols are just as powerless as the gods they make. Then the Bible says something very interesting in verses 16-17. It says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.” Is that verse true? Well, of course it is, but are we saying that God doesn’t own the earth? The Bible says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” So what do you call an arrangement where God creates and owns, but we have? That is called a stewardship. God owns the earth, and we have it. That’s a good reason to be a good steward of God by being a good steward of the earth that He has placed in our care.
Then, verse 17 says, “The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.” If verse 16 talks about place, then verse 17 talks about our time. The psalm says that those who are dead cannot praise the Lord. But, if you are a child of God, what do you think you are going to do in Heaven if not praise the Lord? Do you think you will be praising God in Heaven more than you do right here and right now? Probably “yes” is the answer. Verse 18 says, “But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.” We don’t live for the here and now, but we do live right here and right now so that makes our place and time significant. We are preparing for eternity, but here and now we are to praise God and continue it into eternity.
The point is that since God created me, good stewardship means not putting off until Heaven and eternity what should be done here and now. There are some things I can only do here and now. If I am going to share the gospel with other people, I am going to do it here and now because I can’t do it in Heaven and eternity. If I am going to raise my children to love God and do right, I am going to do that in time and space, earth and life, not heaven and eternity. If I am going to praise God, I will be able to do that for all eternity, but I don’t have to wait until Heaven and eternity to do what ought to be done here and now. Neither do you.