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Psalms 115:2

in Psalms 115

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

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

Wherefore should the nations say, Where is now their God?

KJV

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God?

This verse in Psalms 115

Commentary

9 notes on this verse
Wherefore should the Heathen say,.... The nations about Israel, the nations of the world; the Gentiles in any age; the Papists in ours, sometimes called the Heathen, Psa 10:16. The church expostulates with the Lord why those should be suffered to say, in a reproachful, insulting, manner, and by way of triumph, where is now their God? that they have boasted of would help them; in whom they have put their trust and confidence; why does not he help them, as he has promised, and they expect?

This site's exposition

Why should the nations say

on Psalms 115:2-3

The nations ask Where is their God, and the same taunt stands at Joel 2:17, where the priests are told to weep over it. The psalm answers that God is in heaven and does as He pleases. His freedom is the answer to the nations.

The record, by era

The Church Fathers1 voice

A commentator

Augustine of Hippo

Exposition on Psalm 115 · Written before 430.

proposed

"For Your loving mercy, and for Your truth's sake" [Psalm 115:2]. Observe how often these two qualities, loving mercy and truth, are joined together in the holy Scriptures. For in His loving mercy He called sinners, and in His truth He judges those who when called refused to come. "That the heathen may not say, Where is now their God?" For at the last, His loving mercy and truth will shine forth, when "the sign of the Son of man shall appear in heaven, and then shall all tribes of the earth cry woe;" [Matthew 24:30] nor shall they then say, "Where is their God?" when He is no longer preached unto them to be believed in, but displayed before them to be trembled at.

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

): Wherefore should they say, Where is now their God? (1.) "Why do they say so? Do they not know that our God is every where by his providence, and always nigh to us by his promise and grace?" (2.) "Why does God permit them to say so?

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes

The Nineteenth Century3 voices

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Or, more literally, "Where, pray, is their God?" Why should the nations be allowed with a sneer of contempt to question the existence, and mercy, and faithfulness of Jehovah? They are always ready to blaspheme; we may well pray that they may not derive a reason for so doing from the course of providence, or the decline of the church.

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

The vindication of God's mercy and faithfulness (Ps 25:10; 36:6) is the "glory" of His "name," which is desired to be illustrated in the deliverance of His people, as the implied mode of its manifestation. In view of the taunts of the heathen, faith in His dominion as enthroned in the heaven (Ps 2:4;

quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens

A commentator

Charles Spurgeon

1834–1892

The Treasury of David, Vol. 5 (1878)

proposed

Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? Or, more literally, "Where, pray, is their God?" Why should the nations be allowed with a sneer of contempt to question the existence, and mercy, and faithfulness of Jehovah? They are always ready to blaspheme; we may well pray that they may not derive a reason for so doing from the course of providence, or the decline of the church. When they see the godly down trodden while they themselves live at ease, and act the part of persecutors, they are very apt to speak as if they had triumphed over God himself, or as if he had altogether left the field of action and deserted his saints. When the prayers and tears of the godly seem to be unregarded, and their miseries are rather increased than assuaged, then do the wicked multiply their taunts and jeers, and even argue that their own wretched irreligion is better than the faith of Christians, because for the present their condition is so much preferable to that of the afflicted saints. And, truly, this is the very sting of the trials of God's chosen when they see the veracity of the Lord questioned, and the name of God profaned because of their sufferings. If they could hope that some good result would come out of all this they would endure it with patience; but as they are unable to perceive any desirable result consequent thereon, they enquire with holy anxiety. "Wherefore should the heathen be permitted to speak thus?" It is a question to which it would be hard to reply, and yet no doubt there is an answer. Sometimes the nations are permitted thus to blaspheme, in order that they may fill up the measure of their iniquity, and in order that the subsequent interposition of God may be rendered the more illustrious in contrast with their profane boastings. Do they say, "Where is now their God?"
2 more voices on this verse

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Wherefore should the heathen say - This appears to refer to a time in which the Israelites had suffered some sad reverses, so as to be brought very low, and to be marked by the heathen.
Wherefore should the heathen say - The nations; they who worshipped idols, and who claimed that those idols were true gods. Why should we, thy people, be so left, so forsaken, so afflicted, as to lead these idolaters to suppose that we worship a false God, or that the God whom we adore is destitute of power or faithfulness; either that he does not exist, or that he cannot be relied on. It is evident that they were now in circumstances which would give some plausibility to the question here asked. Where is now their God? - They seem to be forsaken. God, the God whom they worship, does not come forth for their defense. If he exists at all, he is destitute of power, or he is not true to the people who worship him, and he cannot be trusted. Compare Psa 42:3, note; Psa 42:10, note; Psa 79:10, note.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

On the verses either side of this one

Not for us Not for us or for the fitness of our deeds shall You do [this] for us.
Rashi: France, 1040–1105 · Rashi on Psalms 115:1:1, via Sefaria, The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Not on our account, o LORD, not for our merits, but for Your name, grant honor, for Your goodness and for Your truth.
Targum · Aramaic Targum to Psalms 115:1, via Sefaria, Sefaria Community Translation

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

6 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • לָ֭מָּה<to> why?

    lamahH4100 →752 times

  • יֹאמְר֣וּwill they say

    yomeruH559 →5305 times

  • הַגּוֹיִ֑םthe nations

    hagoyimH1471 →561 times

  • אַיֵּה־where?

    ʾaiyeh-H346 →45 times

  • נָ֝֗אplease

    na'H4994 →404 times

  • אֱלֹהֵיהֶֽם׃[is] God their

    ʾeloheihemH430 →2601 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Psalms 42:3

    My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 79:10

      Why should the nations ask, “Where is their God?” Before our eyes, make known among the nations Your vengeance for the bloodshed of Your servants.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Joel 2:17

      Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 42:10

      Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Psalms 80:5

      You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

  • Through

    Exodus 32:12

    Why should the Egyptians declare, ‘He brought them out with evil intent, to kill them in the mountains and wipe them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce anger and relent…

    it leads to

    • Numbers 14:13–16

      But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.

    • Deuteronomy 9:28

      Otherwise, those in the land from which You brought us out will say, ‘Because the LORD was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them,…

  • Through

    Joel 2:17

    Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among…

    it leads to

    • Ezekiel 8:16

      So He brought me to the inner court of the house of the LORD, and there at the entrance to the temple of the LORD, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five…

  • Through

    Psalms 42:10

    Like the crushing of my bones, my enemies taunt me, while they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

    it leads to

    • Psalms 42:3

      My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?”

Where this verse is studied

About Psalms

Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. Benjamin West, 1800. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant. Benjamin West, 1800. Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 115; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 5; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.