Psalms 115:8
They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.
Study Note
Study Note
The polemical observation — 'those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them' — develops a sophisticated critique of idol worship: idols are projections of human limitation, and worshipers are formed into the image of what they worship. The preceding description of idols (verses 4-7) catalogs sensory incapacities: mouths that do not speak, eyes that do not see, ears that do not hear — a systematic contrast with the living God who acts and speaks in history. The principle of transformative mimicry — that humans become like whatever receives their ultimate devotion — extends in New Testament theology to both negative warning (Romans 1:23) and positive promise (2 Corinthians 3:18). The verse remains a powerful analytical tool for critiquing any system of trust that diminishes rather than elevates human dignity.
Other Translations
They that make them shall be like unto them; Yea, every one that trusteth in them.
Nor do they mutter through their throat, Like them are their makers, Every one who is trusting in them.
Those who make them are like them; and so is everyone who puts his faith in them.
Cross References
He feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is …
They that make a graven image are all of them vanity; and their delectable things shall not profit; and they …
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities.
They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is …
What profiteth the graven image that the maker thereof hath graven it; the molten image, and a teacher of lies, …
They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.