The Earth is a Gift, So Use It Text: Psalm 115:16-18
Introduction: A World Without an Owner's Manual
We live in a time of profound confusion about what this world is for. Our secularist priests preach a gospel of cosmic accident. For them, the earth is a random lump of rock and water, and humanity is a brief, meaningless fizz of chemicals. In this view, we are either a planetary disease to be managed and minimized, or we are autonomous gods, free to define our own reality and purpose. Both paths lead to the same destination: tyranny and despair. On the one hand, you have the green zealots who see every human footprint as a sacrilegious desecration. On the other, you have the libertines who see the world as a consequence-free playground for their appetites.
Both are dead wrong, because both have thrown out the Owner's Manual. Both have refused to acknowledge the fundamental truth about reality: this world was made by Someone, and it was given to someone for a purpose. This is not our random cosmic fluke, and we are not aimless orphans. This world is a gift, a glorious inheritance, a workshop, a battlefield, and a stage for the drama of redemption.
Psalm 115, as a whole, is a thunderous polemic against idolatry. The psalmist mocks the dead, deaf, and dumb idols of the pagans and contrasts them with the living God of Heaven who does whatever He pleases. Our text comes at the climax of this argument. After establishing who God is and what idols are not, the psalmist turns to define our place in the cosmos. What is our relationship to this God of Heaven, and what is our relationship to this earth He made? The answer is not what our modern sensibilities would expect. It is not a call to retreat from the world, to float in some ethereal, "spiritual" holding pattern. It is a robust, earthy, and frankly exhilarating commission. God has a place, and we have a place. And our job is to fill our place with His praises, right here, right now.
These three verses are a compact theology of dominion, life, and worship. They tell us where we are, what we are to do here, and how long we are to do it. It is a direct refutation of any Gnostic impulse to despise the material world, any pietistic retreat from cultural engagement, and any pessimistic despair about the future. God has given us a job to do, and He has given us the world as the place to do it.
The Text
The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh,
But the earth He has given to the sons of men.
It is not the dead that praise Yah,
And it is none of those who go down to silence;
But as for us, we will bless Yah
From now until forever.
Praise Yah!
(Psalm 115:16-18 LSB)
The Great Land Grant (v. 16)
The first verse establishes the fundamental jurisdictions of the cosmos.
"The heavens are the heavens of Yahweh, But the earth He has given to the sons of men." (Psalm 115:16)
This is a foundational statement about the Creator/creature distinction and our delegated authority. First, "the heavens are the heavens of Yahweh." God's throne, His command center, is in heaven. He is transcendent. He is not contained within His creation, tangled up in its processes like the pagan deities. He rules over it from on high. This is the confession that our God is sovereign and does whatever He pleases (v. 3). He is not running for re-election. He is not wringing His hands. He is on His throne.
But the second clause is the shocker for all forms of false spirituality: "But the earth He has given to the sons of men." This is a direct echo and reaffirmation of the original dominion mandate in Genesis. "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion..." (Gen. 1:28). The earth is not a neutral space. It is a gift. It is a deeded inheritance. God made it, He owns it ultimately, but He has leased it to mankind as vice-regents. We are His stewards, His tenants, tasked with cultivating this world into a glorious garden-temple that reflects His glory.
This demolishes the sacred/secular distinction that has so neutered the modern church. The earth is not the devil's territory, which we are to fearfully tiptoe through, hoping to get beamed out before we get dirty. The earth is the Lord's, and He has given it to us. This means that farming, engineering, art, music, politics, and economics are all spiritual activities. They are the proper business of mankind, the working out of the dominion mandate. Of course, because of the fall, man's attempt to fulfill this mandate apart from God has been a disaster. We have marred the gift, polluted the inheritance, and built Babylon instead of the New Jerusalem. But the mandate was never revoked. It was reaffirmed to Noah, and ultimately, it is fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam. He is the one to whom all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Matt. 28:18). And through Him, we, His people, are restored to our task. We are to disciple the nations, teaching them to obey all that Christ commanded. This is not a retreat; it is a reconquest.
The Living and the Dead (v. 17)
Next, the psalmist draws a sharp contrast between the state of the dead and the responsibility of the living.
"It is not the dead that praise Yah, And it is none of those who go down to silence;" (Psalm 115:17)
In the Old Testament economy, the state of the dead before the resurrection of Christ was shadowy. Sheol, the grave, is described here as "silence." This is not to say it was annihilation or unconsciousness, but it was a place of separation, a muted existence. The vibrant, embodied, covenantal praise that happens on earth, in the congregation, was not happening there. The dead were silenced in their earthly praise. This is why characters like Hezekiah could plead for their lives, saying, "For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living, he thanks You, as I do today" (Isaiah 38:18-19).
The point is not a detailed theological treatise on the afterlife. The point is a matter of emphasis. The central theater of God's praise in that era was the earth, among the living. And this puts a tremendous premium on the life we have now. You have breath in your lungs. You have a voice. You are standing on the earth that God has given to men. The conclusion is inescapable: use it. Use your life, your breath, your voice, your hands, your mind, to praise God now. This life is not a dress rehearsal. It is the main event. The dead are silent; therefore, the living must be loud.
This is a call to carpe diem, but in a godly sense. Seize the day for the glory of God. Do not postpone your obedience, your worship, your service. The opportunities for embodied praise on this side of the grave are precious and fleeting. The dead cannot sing psalms, build Christian schools, raise godly children, or share the gospel with a neighbor. We can. And therefore, we must.
The Perpetual Vow (v. 18)
The psalm concludes with a glorious, defiant, and eternal resolution.
"But as for us, we will bless Yah From now until forever. Praise Yah!" (Psalm 115:18)
In stark contrast to the silent dead and the mute idols, the people of God declare their unwavering purpose. "But as for us..." This is the covenantal response. Whatever the pagans do with their idols, whatever happens in the silence of Sheol, we have a different destiny. "We will bless Yah." This is not a suggestion; it is a declaration of intent, a vow of allegiance. Our purpose, as those who have been given the earth, is to fill it with the praise of the God of Heaven.
And notice the timeframe: "From now until forever." This is where a robust, optimistic, postmillennial eschatology finds its footing. This is not the language of a frightened remnant, huddled in a bunker waiting for the end. This is the language of a conquering army that knows the war has already been won. Our praise begins "now," in the midst of our present struggles, and it extends "until forever." It will not be extinguished. It will grow. It will swell. It will fill the earth as the waters cover the sea (Hab. 2:14).
This praise is not just a future, ethereal hope. It is a present, historical project. We bless the Lord now, and our children will bless Him after us, and their children after them, until the knowledge of God's glory covers the globe. This is the engine of the Great Commission. The gospel goes forth, sinners are saved, churches are planted, and the volume of God's praise on earth increases. History is not spiraling downward into chaos; it is marching upward toward a global chorus of praise.
And so the psalm ends with the only fitting conclusion: "Praise Yah!" or "Hallelujah!" It is both a declaration of what we will do and a command to do it. It is the sum of our duty and the height of our delight. We were made for this. We were given the earth for this. To praise the Lord is to fulfill the very purpose of our existence.
Conclusion: Your Plot of Ground
So what does this mean for us, right here and now? It means that you are not an accident, and your life is not a meaningless blip. God, the sovereign Lord of Heaven, has given you a plot of ground. That plot of ground is your life, your family, your job, your neighborhood, your church. It is your portion of the earth that He has given to the sons of men.
And your task is clear. You are not to curse the darkness; you are to praise the God who commands the light. You are not to bemoan the silence of the dead; you are to join the loud chorus of the living. Your life is your opportunity to "bless Yah."
This means you go to your work tomorrow not as a drone in a secular machine, but as a dominion-taker for Christ, doing your work with excellence as praise to God. It means you love your spouse and raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord, cultivating your little patch of God's garden. It means you engage in the life of your community, seeking its welfare and speaking the truth in love, extending the borders of the Kingdom.
The dead are silent. The idols are dumber than rocks. But our God is in the heavens, and His Son has risen from the dead, breaking the silence of the grave forever. Because He lives, we live also. And because we live, we praise. We praise Him now, in this life, on this earth He has given us. And we will praise Him forever, as His kingdom comes and His will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. So take up your commission. Take up your inheritance. And for the rest of your days, let your life be one resounding Hallelujah.
Praise Yah!