Absurdity of False Gods

Synopsis     Psalms 105:34-106:20     2/1/2022 

The psalmist emphasized how God gave Israel provisions. Specifically, He did this because of the covenant with Abraham. 

Subsequently, the psalmist made an observation about life. His conclusion was that a person is happiest when they obey God. 

At the same time, he was aware that he was part of a sinful generation. 

As he reflected on this fact, he recounted how even Israel’s ancestors forgot about God’s goodness almost immediately after He helped them. As examples, he cited the way the Israelites challenged Moses and Aaron. They never realized they were actually challenging God. In their defiance, they made a golden idol in the shape of a cow.

With this, they attempted to force God to be what they wanted Him to be.  

Absurdity of the False God 

The thing that mankind can’t seem to come to terms with is God-envy. This is the repressed envy we feel at the fact that God is God and we are not. Of course, it’s also known as Original Sin.  

In the depths of our hearts, we all intuitively know that God is. But, unresolved God-envy drives us toward this crazy effort to supplant God by making up our own gods. No matter how this tendency manifests, it is absurd. 

We think the advantage of creating gods is that we somehow control the situation. However, this is an delusion. We make a god. And then we describe the experiences of our lives in some tenuously plausible way that fits our god into our experience.  

Yet, like a surfer on a wave, the wave is never actually changed by the surfer. There is a reality at work. And any surfer who fails to recognize who’s in charge is likely headed for disaster.   

“Half of it he burns in the fire, on its embers he roasts meat; he eats the roast and is full. He warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm! I see the flames!” The rest of it he makes into a god, an image to worship and adore. He prays to it and says, “Help me! You are my god!” Isaiah 44:16-17