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Psalm 115:4
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.
Notice
Silver and gold can make an idol look worthy of worship, yet the verse traces its origin to the hands that made it.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes when you picture these silver and gold idols being made by human hands?
Write on thisHow does the contrast between God in heaven and handmade idols challenge what impresses you?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Deuteronomy 4:28There you will serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.Both passages describe gods made by human hands, with Deuteronomy naming wood and stone where the psalm names silver and gold.
Isaiah 46:6–7Some pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver in the balance. They hire a goldsmith, and he makes it a god. They fall down— yes, they worship.Both passages name silver and gold as materials for idols, and Isaiah describes the goldsmith making what people then worship.
Jeremiah 10:3–5For the customs of the peoples are vanity; for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman with the ax.Both passages trace objects of worship back to human labor, whether hands working precious metals or a workman cutting a tree.
Isaiah 40:19–20A workman has cast an image, and the goldsmith overlays it with gold, and casts silver chains for it.Both passages describe images made by craftsmen using silver and gold.
Habakkuk 2:18–20“What value does the engraved image have, that its maker has engraved it; the molten image, even the teacher of lies, that he who fashions its form trusts in …Both passages identify idols as things people make, while Habakkuk questions the value of trusting what a maker has fashioned.
Jeremiah 2:11Has a nation changed its gods, which really are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which doesn’t profit.Both passages challenge the standing of other gods: the psalm names their human origin, and Jeremiah says they are no gods.
Jeremiah 10:9There is silver beaten into plates, which is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the engraver and of the hands of the goldsmith. Their …Both passages name silver and gold and identify the finished objects as the work of human hands.
Isaiah 46:1–2Bel bows down. Nebo stoops. Their idols are carried by animals, and on the livestock. The things that you carried around are heavy loads, a burden for the …Both passages describe idols as physical objects: the psalm names their materials and makers, while Isaiah describes animals carrying them.
Isaiah 44:10Who has fashioned a god, or molds an image that is profitable for nothing?Both passages describe people making gods or images, and Isaiah questions the profit of such work.
1 Kings 16:7Moreover the LORD’s word came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the …Both mention the work of human hands, though Kings addresses Baasha’s evil and the psalm describes silver and gold idols.
Psalm 135:15–18The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.Both psalms describe the nations’ idols as silver and gold made by human hands.
Acts 19:26You see and hear that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods …Both passages identify human hands as the makers of idols, and Acts reports Paul’s teaching that handmade gods are no gods.
Where this verse fits
Sermon or Bible study notes. praise and worship. temptation.
One step
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Encouragement
The nations’ challenge does not change who God is. Their silver and gold remain human handiwork; the God described in the preceding verse does whatever he pleases.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).