Praise the Lord!
    Praise the name of the Lord;
    give praise, O servants of the Lord,
you who stand in the house of the Lord,
    in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
    sing to his name, for he is gracious.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
    Israel as his own possession.

For I know that the Lord is great;
    our Lord is above all gods.
Whatever the Lord pleases he does,
    in heaven and on earth,
    in the seas and all deeps.
He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth;
    he makes lightnings for the rain
    and brings out the wind from his storehouses.

He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
    both humans and animals;
he sent signs and wonders
    into your midst, O Egypt,
    against Pharaoh and all his servants.
He struck down many nations
    and killed mighty kings—
Sihon, king of the Amorites,
    and Og, king of Bashan,
    and all the kingdoms of Canaan—
and gave their land as a heritage,
    a heritage to his people Israel.

Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
    your renown, O Lord, throughout all ages.
For the Lord will vindicate his people
    and have compassion on his servants.

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
    the work of human hands.
They have mouths, but they do not speak;
    they have eyes, but they do not see;
they have ears, but they do not hear,
    a nose, but there is no breath in their mouths.
Those who make them
    and all who trust them
    shall become like them.

O house of Israel, bless the Lord!
    O house of Aaron, bless the Lord!
O house of Levi, bless the Lord!
    You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
    he who resides in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord! (New Revised Standard Version)

Idolatry in the Bible is greatly discouraged. To trust in or worship an idol is a big deal in Holy Scripture, precisely because it is totally worthless. Trusting an idol to do anything for you would be like talking to a bowling ball and asking it to balance your checkbook. In other words, there is no chance whatsoever of a bowling ball or an idol helping you in your life with anything at all.

An idol has zero power or authority to accomplish what you need. Idols are impotent and helpless and can do nothing. Anybody who focuses on something that has no agency to act in the world will soon lose their own personal agency to act in the world. One who practices idolatry will become just like their idol: worthless.

So, if idolatry is so irrelevant, then why do many people put their trust in “gods” other than God? Because so many of us have a form of spiritual attention deficit disorder in which we become attracted to all the shiny deities in front of us. It is no coincidence that idols are consistently lacquered over with gold or silver in order to display an extravagant wealth, communicate prestige, and attract new worshipers.

Slick idol marketing presents that worthless thing as valuable, as something you cannot live without. This ability to seduce others into placing trust and value into the irrelevant object is largely why much of the Old Testament condemns idolatry and encourages destruction of idols.

But this is how you must deal with them; break down their altars, smash their pillars, hew down their sacred poles, and burn their idols with fire… The images of their gods you shall burn with fire. Do not covet the silver or gold that is on them and take it for yourself, because you could be ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. (Deuteronomy 7:5, 25, NRSV)

Idolatry drains the energy we could be using for worship and life toward the One true God. The idols are an affront to a committed life of faith relational connections. They are a distraction, siphoning away resources that are better used elsewhere. Perhaps most of all, idolatry skews our worldview; the idolator ceases using common sense, and begins moving toward useless endeavors that do not enrich the entire community.

Instead, we can praise the Lord, because God is good and has our best interests at mind. Not only that, but God also has the ability to follow through with divine promises made. A bowling ball can’t do that! (it can’t even make it so you can throw a perfect 300 bowling game).

God is gracious, and holds us close. We belong to God. Remember all the ways the Lord has delivered people in the past, and let that memory give you confidence moving forward.

One of the best ways to know if the worship of God is intact, is by noticing if worshipers act in generous, gracious ways to uphold the unity and peace of the faith community.

But if a community is characterized by division and special interest groups, and by distortions of faith that only champion their particular brand of belief, then you are likely looking at idolatry. If you observe this, get out fast, while you can.

Whenever people are able to bless one another and bless the world, they themselves have received blessing from God. But if they continually curse each other and bemoan the world, then its time to leave. This earthly life is too short for messing around with a bunch of useless idolatry that gets us nowhere.

Maintaining faith in God – and not in something or someone else – will enable us to deal with our doubts and see the power of the Lord all around us.

O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit—as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. Alleluia.