Sermons on Psalm 115:1

Psalm 115:1 Interpretation:

Embracing Forward-Focused Faith for New Beginnings(The Father's House) reads Psalm 115:1 as a corporate confession and attribution—after quoting "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto your great name be all the glory because of your love and your faithfulness" the preacher interprets that repetition as an emphatic corporate posture: every milestone and future advance of The Father's House is to be received and narrated as God’s action alone, the congregation's anniversary becomes an occasion to refuse self-credit and to point every story of provision, growth, and planting to God's steadfast love and faithfulness, and the verse functions practically to authorize fundraising, missionary risk-taking, and seed-planting as acts of stewardship that return glory to God's name rather than to human accomplishment.

Living for God's Glory: Lessons from the Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) treats Psalm 115:1 as a hinge for the Reformers' insistence on soli Deo gloria, calling attention to the psalmist's doubled phrase "Not to us... not to us" as a deliberate literary correction to humanity's instinct to center itself (the Latin incurvitas), and reads the verse not merely as liturgical humility but as the theological foundation for a life-structuring doctrine—everything from ordinary work to liturgy should be ordered so that God's name alone receives glory, an insight the speaker amplifies with analogies to catechisms and to Bach’s habit of signing S.D.G., thereby moving the psalm from occasional doxology to the organizing principle of vocation and Christian culture.

Glorifying God: The Heart of Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) in the panel discussion seizes Psalm 115:1 to summarize the goal of the Reformation—“not to us, but to you”—and the speakers interpret the verse as a corrective to human self-glorification and a practical summons to live and minister so that every church practice, catechetical teaching, and pastoral aim is subordinated to God’s renown; the psalm functions as the doxological litmus test for doctrine and reform (if it increases human applause it fails the psalm’s standard), and the panel uses that interpretive move to press for Word-centered worship, sacramental faithfulness, and a Reformation-shaped ecclesial life.

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) reads Psalm 115:1 as a posture opposite to self-seeking glory and uses the verse as the springboard to argue that the believer’s aim is to deflect honor away from self and direct it to God; the pastor frames the psalmist’s line “Not to us, Lord… to your name be the glory” not merely as a liturgical slogan but as a corrective to pride, explicating that true Christian freedom comes when we stop competing for honor and instead cultivate humility that points others to God, and he contrasts this explicitly with the Pharisee’s self-congratulatory prayer (Luke 18) to show how Psalm 115:1 functions as the gospel antidote to self-exaltation.

Inviting God's Kingdom: A New Way to Pray(Don White) treats Psalm 115:1 as part of the prayerful logic that undergirds the Lord’s Prayer — he places the psalmist’s “not to us… to your name be glory” alongside “hallowed be thy name” and argues that the verse teaches prayer as an intentional petition asking God to receive and be honored with the glory due him; he emphasizes the active sense of petition (linking to the Greek imperative in the Lord’s Prayer) so that Psalm 115:1 is read not as passive praise but as a summons for God’s name and glory to invade human stories here and now.

Psalm 115:1 Theological Themes:

Embracing Forward-Focused Faith for New Beginnings(The Father's House) uses Psalm 115:1 to press a distinct theological theme that God's love and faithfulness—not human strategizing or credit—are the soil of mission and church expansion, framing stewardship and church planting as acts that must flow from doxological dependence rather than institutional self-sufficiency; the preacher links the verse to a theology of corporate humility that fuels risk-taking (planting Santa Barbara) and insists on 100% participation in giving as an expression of attributing every fruit to God's name.

Living for God's Glory: Lessons from the Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) develops the theological theme that the psalm’s repeated negation of "unto us" diagnoses the human condition (incurvitas) and therefore grounds the Reformers' conviction that the chief end of humanity is God’s glory; from that diagnosis flows a robust doctrine of vocation (every legitimate calling is a "sentinel post" to glorify God), so Psalm 115 becomes the theological basis for collapsing sacred/secular divides and insisting that ordinary work, art, and culture be ordered to God's praise.

Glorifying God: The Heart of Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) advances a distinct theme that Psalm 115:1 should generate a doxological ecclesiology: the Reformation’s goal is not institutional growth for its own sake but the production of churches and lives that ascribe glory to God alone, and this theme is sharpened with an applied angle—if Reformation theology (as taught in catechisms and the Westminster standards) does not yield exuberant, God-centered doxology in worship and life, then it has not achieved its goal.

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) emphasizes a distinctive theological theme that giving God the glory is the cure for pride: pride is portrayed not as a neutral moral failing but as a spiritual tactic (tied to 1 John’s language) that drives self-promotion and resentment when others receive honor, and true Christian flourishing is presented as humility that “raises others up” so God receives glory — the pastor ties this to the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s claim that man’s chief end is to glorify God, thereby making glorification of God the telos of Christian life rather than an optional religious sentiment.

Inviting God's Kingdom: A New Way to Pray(Don White) unfolds the fresh theological theme that prayer’s primary function is to “invoke” God’s glory and will into present reality — he makes the provocative move of reframing “hallowed be thy name” (and by extension Psalm 115:1) as an imperative petition to call down God’s honoring presence, and he connects that petition to kingdom theology (the already/not‑yet): praying that God be glorified is simultaneously a present request for heavenly rule to break in and a participation in the eventual consummation where “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord” (Rev 11:15).

Psalm 115:1 Historical and Contextual Insights:

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) situates Psalm 115:1 within the Old Testament corpus by explicitly noting that the psalmist’s declaration comes from the pre‑Christ era and then reads it in the life‑setting of Israelic worship as a communal creed opposing self-exaltation; the sermon also contrasts Second‑Temple/Jesus‑era religious posturing by explaining who the Pharisees were (the temple‑oriented religious leaders of Jesus’ day) to help listeners see how Psalm 115:1 anticipates New Testament critiques of self‑righteous religiosity.

Inviting God's Kingdom: A New Way to Pray(Don White) places Psalm 115:1 in the trajectory of Israel’s prophetic and prayer literature by pairing it with Isaiah’s and Habakkuk’s prophetic petitions for God to “come down” and make his name known, and he highlights the continuity between psalmic petition and Jesus’ own prayer (“Father, glorify thy name”) on the way to the cross, treating the psalm as part of an ongoing biblical pattern of invoking God’s honor in history rather than merely offering retrospective praise.

Psalm 115:1 Cross-References in the Bible:

Embracing Forward-Focused Faith for New Beginnings(The Father's House) groups numerous biblical texts around the Psalm to expand its practical meaning: Joshua and the spy narrative (Numbers 13 / Joshua 13 / Joshua 17) are used to model a forward-focused faith that refuses to settle and thus apply Psalm 115’s doxological posture to corporate land-taking and personal destiny; Habakkuk 2 is cited ("if the vision tarries, wait for it") to reassure that God’s promises will come to pass so that glory rightly returns to God’s name; devotional Pauline and Johannine texts (Philippians 4:13, Colossians 1:27, 1 John 4:4, Romans 8:37, Galatians 2:20) are marshaled to show that the power to live out a Psalm 115 posture—refusing self-glory and living by God’s faithfulness—comes from Christ indwelling the believer; Exodus 14:14 is appealed to as a pastoral comfort that God will fight for his people so that the glory remains his; 1 Chronicles 4 (the prayer of Jabez) is read as a biblical precedent for asking God to "expand my territory" so that whatever increase comes returns glory to God.

Living for God's Glory: Lessons from the Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) situates Psalm 115:1 alongside other biblical doxologies to buttress the claim that all of life should honor God: the familiar Pauline maxim "whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31, implied in the sermon) is used to translate Psalm 115’s liturgical refrain into daily practice, while references to Psalm 68 (Luther’s deathbed text) and John 3:16 in the sermon narrative show how the Reformation linked public proclamation of the gospel to doxological ends; the speaker uses these cross-references to argue that the psalm’s repeated insistence is not an isolated liturgical formula but embedded in New Testament teaching that God’s glory is the appropriate telos of ordinary acts and of salvation itself.

Glorifying God: The Heart of Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) pairs Psalm 115:1 with Romans 11:36 ("For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever") in the panel’s theology-of-doxology argument: Romans 11:36 is produced as the Pauline counterpart to the psalm's refrain, showing how the Reformation’s emphasis on God’s glory is both Old and New Testament rooted, and Ephesians 4 is appealed to in the discussion of means-of-grace ministry to show that Word-centered ministry produces the kind of holy community in which Psalm 115’s rejection of self-glorification is visibly borne out.

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) groups several New Testament passages around Psalm 115:1 to develop the anti‑pride, pro‑humility reading: Matthew 5:14–16 (let your light shine so others glorify the Father) is used to show that good deeds are intended to direct glory to God rather than self; Luke 18:9–14 (the Pharisee and tax collector) is used concretely to contrast self‑justifying religion with the humble posture the psalmist calls for; Philippians 2:3–8 (Christ’s self‑emptying humility) is cited as the model that grounds the psalm’s aim — Christ did not seek personal glory but obedience and the Father’s honor; 1 John 2:16 is deployed to identify pride as one of the worldly impulses that block giving God glory; and Revelation 4:11 is recommended as a further biblical locus demonstrating that God alone is worthy of glory, all of which is marshaled to show Psalm 115:1’s place in a biblical chain of passages teaching God‑centered honor.

Inviting God's Kingdom: A New Way to Pray(Don White) clusters Old and New Testament texts around Psalm 115:1 to argue that praying for God’s glory is the heart of biblical prayer: Matthew 6:9–10 (the Lord’s Prayer) provides the framework — “hallowed be thy name/thy kingdom come/thy will be done” — with the sermon insisting the Lord’s Prayer makes glorifying God the first petition; Isaiah 64 (a prophetic plea for God to “rend the heavens and come down”) and Habakkuk (a prophet calling God to repeat mighty deeds) are used as examples of psalmic/prophetic petitions that call God’s renown into present circumstances; Jesus’ own pre‑crucifixion petition “Father, glorify thy name” is appealed to as the climax that echoes Psalm 115:1; and Revelation 11:15 (“the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord…”) is cited to show the eschatological fulfillment toward which such petitions point — together these references demonstrate how Psalm 115:1 functions as both prayer and program across Scripture.

Psalm 115:1 Christian References outside the Bible:

Living for God's Glory: Lessons from the Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) explicitly weaves Reformation-era and post-Reformation Christian figures into the Psalm 115 reading: Luther and his catechetical concern are presented as historical heirs of the psalm’s doxology (Luther’s Children’s Catechism being a vehicle to habituate glory to God), the Heidelberg and Westminster catechisms are cited as doctrinal distillations that translate the psalm into formative Q&A (Heidelberg One and Westminster Q1 articulating belonging to Christ and glorifying God), and Johann Sebastian Bach is invoked as a concrete exemplar—Bach’s biographical practice of signing his scores "S.D.G." (soli Deo gloria) is used to show how a Christian artist enacted Psalm 115’s refusal of self-credit by deliberately attributing every composition to God’s glory; each reference is used to show how Psalm 115 was read and lived by major Christian traditions and artists.

Glorifying God: The Heart of Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) in the panel discussion cites a broad array of Reformation and post-Reformation Christian voices while locating Psalm 115 as the doctrinal center: the Heidelberg Catechism is quoted at length to demonstrate how early Protestant instruction made God-centered belonging (not self-absorption) the deepest human comfort, Calvin’s vocational language ("sentinel post") is drawn on to make Psalm 115 operative for everyday callings, and twentieth-century preachers such as Martyn Lloyd-Jones (anecdote about nailing the pulpit) and references to R.C. Sproul’s pastoral framing are used to show how successive generations have applied the Psalm’s refusal of self-glory to preaching, catechesis, and church formation.

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) explicitly cites the Westminster Shorter Catechism when treating Psalm 115:1, quoting its famous question and answer “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever,” and the sermon uses that historic confessional statement to bolster the claim that directing glory to God (as the psalmist commands) is not merely devotional sentiment but the central purpose of human existence as understood by classical Reformed theology.

Psalm 115:1 Illustrations from Secular Sources:

Embracing Forward-Focused Faith for New Beginnings(The Father's House) uses a series of everyday, secular anecdotes immediately after citing Psalm 115 to illustrate how giving God the glory works in ordinary life: the preacher recounts a business lunch in 1996 where a successful businessman spontaneously wrote a $1,000 check to seed the church plant—a secular act of generosity reframed as an instrument by which God’s faithfulness is demonstrated and thus glory returns to God; he also tells of the very ordinary technology of the day (a compact disc titled "The Father's House") as a providential confirmation that accompanied the decision to plant, and mentions cultural markers of affluence in Santa Barbara (celebrities like Oprah and Ellen) to paint the city as a secular context in need of a doxological intervention—each concrete, non-biblical detail functions to show Psalm 115’s application: when secular acts and cultural goods are surrendered to God’s purposes, the glory is His.

Living for God's Glory: Lessons from the Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) highlights Johann Sebastian Bach (a broadly cultural/historical figure) as a vivid illustration: Bach’s documented habit of appending "S.D.G." to both sacred and secular commissions is treated as a distinguishing historical example of Psalm 115’s ethic—the composer did not limit God-glorifying activity to liturgical works but signaled that artistic labor, even when paid by princes or aimed at worldly events, could be consecrated so that the name of God is honored, and the sermon unpacks how that practice models a Reformation-shaped cultural engagement that the Psalm demands.

Glorifying God: The Heart of Reformation(Ligonier Ministries) describes Lucas Cranach’s well-known portrait-painting of Luther—a secular work of art commissioned as a memorial—as an illustration tied to the Psalm’s theme: Cranach paints Christ at the visual center of Luther’s pulpit scene so that viewers looking at Luther’s preaching are actually directed to Christ, and the panel uses that artistic decision to show how cultural artifacts (paintings, music) can be composed to refuse human-centered acclaim and instead embody Psalm 115’s insistence that glory be given to God alone.

Glorifying God: The Freedom of Humility(Living Springs Community Church) employs everyday secular examples to make Psalm 115:1 concrete: the pastor describes workplace and social‑media behavior (self‑promotion, boasting about accomplishments, “I kept the company afloat” narratives) to show how modern life vies for personal glory and thus contravenes the psalmist’s posture, uses a common pub‑conversation caricature of the self‑appointed expert to illustrate pride’s social dynamics, and quotes a Merriam‑Webster definition of humility (“freedom from pride or arrogance”) to translate the scriptural call to give glory to God into a language accessible to non‑churchgoers, showing how Psalm 115:1’s redirection of honor has practical behavioral correlates.

Inviting God's Kingdom: A New Way to Pray(Don White) repeatedly uses vivid secular metaphors to explain what Psalm 115:1 and the Lord’s Prayer ask us to do: he likens the verb “invoke” to a military officer “calling in air support” — the image of a staff sergeant summoning airpower is used to make palpable how prayer should “call in” God’s glory and intervention into our situations — and opens with a detailed personal anecdote about a friend who insists on paying the check and never rides as a passenger to illustrate our human impulse to control rather than hand over the “keys” to God; both secular images are pressed into service to show Psalm 115:1’s practical import: prayer summons God’s glory and requires surrender of human control.