Psalm 96:4-5
ESV
4 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Verse 4
Here the Psalmist here Praises God for His greatest because He is greatly to be praised and also notes He is to be feared above all other gods. This Praise of God stops us to meditate on His goodness and His greatness in contrary to the worthless idols later mentioned.
Verse 5
The Psalmist continues after saying how we should fear God more than idols by saying that the gods of the people are worthless. In our day and age, many idolize money, fame, relationships, power etc and we can call all of these worthless idols.
Something that is considered worthless is something that holds little to no true value. The great God he worships in verse 4 is far more valuable than any false gods of this age.
The reason that makes idols so useless is that they aren't eternal. You can't depend and fully rely on them. They can give temporary comfort, satisfaction and happiness but in the end, it leaves you emptier because it leaves you desiring more and more but never fulfils you. It's drinking a well but no matter how much water you drink you are left more thirsty because it gave you a taste of what you wanted but never gave you truly want you needed.
Idols are worthless because they can be taken from you, they aren't yours no matter how much it might feel like it. Relationships can end, fame can turn to rejection, you can be rich than you're poor, loved ad then hated but they are never dependable. You can feel something is yours but you're only a steward over it. We don't truly own anything because all are given. What God gives us is something we look after but it's never truly ours. The earth, this world and us, all belong to God even that we create with our hands are from what belongs to God.
Idols are worthless because they can root, be stolen and disappear but God never will. We hold unto idols as if they promised us they will stay and as if they are reliable to never lie. We have a God who is not a man that He shall lie neither the son of a man that He shall repent (Numbers 23:19)
We are sacred to lose our idols. We're scared to end up poor, lonely and without what we value but who we should truly be scared to lose is God. Without God, our lives have no purpose. For our very purpose is from God.
Let's PRAISE our God today. Let's worship Him for He is truly above all gods. He won't leave and forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), one we can fully depend on and one who is our living water that will never leave us thirst (Read John 4:5-43)
And finally, if you know there are idols in your heart (whatever consumes your thoughts the most and anything that's taking God's place in your life then repent from them sis and turn back to Him. Those idols we like to keep, those desires we keep hidden in our hearts that are bringing us to sin time and time again, we need to surrender and let these worthless idols go for the one who loves us and the one who is forever.
-etty