“They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them.”
Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. This verse delivers the implicit judgment of the preceding verses: those who create and worship idols assimilate to them, becoming spiritually dead and senseless. The phrase become like them suggests that idolatry produces moral and spiritual degeneration; the idolater gradually becomes insensate and lifeless like the false gods they worship. The parallel construction (those who make/those who trust) includes both idol-makers and idol-worshippers in this condemnation; both are trapped in futility. The final assertion that idolaters become like their idols transforms the merely satirical critique into a theological warning: idolatry corrupts and destroys the human soul. This verse explains why idolatry matters theologically: it is not merely false belief but a spiritually corrosive practice that dehumanizes those who engage in it.
Church Fathers on Psalms 135:18
1. Very pleasant ought it be to us, and we should rejoice because it is pleasant, to which this Psalm exhorts us. For it says, “Praise the name of the Lord” Psalm 134:1. And it immediately appends the reason, why it is just to praise the name of the Lord. “Praise the Lord, you servants.” What more just? What more worthy? What more thankful?...For if He teaches His own servants who have deserved well of Him, the preachers of His Word, the rulers of His Church, the worshippers…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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