Psalm 49 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 49
The Folly of Trust in Riches
To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.
1 Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of my persecutors surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly, no ransom avails for one’s life;[a]
there is no price one can give to God for it.
8 For the ransom of life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that one should live on forever
and never see the Pit.
10 When we look at the wise, they die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves[b] are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
12 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
13 Such is the fate of the foolhardy,
the end of those[c] who are pleased with their lot. Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd;
straight to the grave they descend,[d]
and their form shall waste away;
Sheol shall be their home.[e]
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16 Do not be afraid when some become rich,
when the wealth of their houses increases.
17 For when they die they will carry nothing away;
their wealth will not go down after them.
18 Though in their lifetime they count themselves happy
—for you are praised when you do well for yourself—
19 they[f] will go to the company of their ancestors,
who will never again see the light.
20 Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Without God in the World?
For centuries, Western society has benefited from the widespread influence of the Christian faith.
While the history of the West is filled with examples of stark, grotesques human depravity, where there has been a consistent Christian presence it has, in many ways and at many times, also stayed the hand of evil. Most of us have not had to experience what a society looks like when it completely rejects and forgets God.
Psalm 10 Complete Jewish Bible
10 Why, Adonai, do you stand at a distance?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in their arrogance hunt down the poor,
who get caught in the schemes they think up.
3 For the wicked boasts about his lusts;
he blesses greed and despises Adonai.
4 Every scheme of the wicked in his arrogance [says],
“There is no God, [so] it won’t be held against me.”
5 His ways prosper at all times.
Your judgments are way up there,
so he takes no notice.
His adversaries? He scoffs at them all.
6 In his heart he thinks, “I will never be shaken;
I won’t meet trouble, not now or ever.”
7 His mouth is full of curses, deceit, oppression;
under his tongue, mischief and injustice.
8 He waits near settlements in ambush
and kills an innocent man in secret;
his eyes are on the hunt for the helpless.
9 Lurking unseen like a lion in his lair,
he lies in wait to pounce on the poor,
then seizes the poor and drags him off in his net.
10 Yes, he stoops, crouches down low;
and the helpless wretch falls into his clutches.
11 He says in his heart, “God forgets,
he hides his face, he will never see.”
12 Arise, Adonai! God, raise your hand!
Don’t forget the humble!
13 Why does the wicked despise God
and say in his heart, “It won’t be held against me”?
14 You have seen; for you look at mischief and grief,
so that you can take the matter in hand.
The helpless commits himself to you;
you help the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked!
As for the evil man,
search out his wickedness
until there is none left.
16 Adonai is king forever and ever!
The nations have vanished from his land.
17 Adonai, you have heard what the humble want;
you encourage them and listen to them,
18 to give justice to the fatherless and oppressed,
so that no one on earth will strike terror again.
The Scriptures, however, do give us more than a few grim pictures of what happens when people have convinced themselves that there is no God.
It is a poignant picture of a rejection of humility, where “the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul” and rejects God in pride (Psalm 10:3-4). Humility is where the knowledge of God begins; therefore, those who reject God reject humility too.
Not only do such proud people reject God; they also revile Him, cursing and renouncing Him (Psalm 10:3).
It is often prosperity that leads people to curse God.
Their lives are going so well that they believe nothing can touch them and they will give no account to their Maker.
Their prosperity gives them a false sense of security.
They think they can live as they like, that “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it” (v 11), and that there will be no repercussions for their behavior.
With no accountability, personal morals, ethics, responsibility, for how people live, there is no need for the powerful to serve or the strong to be gentle: we can treat others however we please, and so the godless man “sits in ambush … he murders the innocent … he lurks that he may seize the poor” (v 8-9).
It is with good reason, then, that the psalmist poignantly says, “Man in all his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”
When we consciously reject and revile God, we foolishly think we are secure in our devices, which convinces us that it’s acceptable for us to mistreat others.
It is tempting to think that passages like this one only describe other people.
But we should not be too quick to look away from ourselves.
Are there ways we ourselves have rejected humility, believing ourselves to be “wholly sufficient” without God?
Have we let our prosperity numb us to our neediness and accountability before God? Has our treatment of those around us been marked by self-interest and arrogance instead of love and service?
We may confess to have faith in God, but perhaps there are still areas of our “Christian” lives that require some serious Psalm 51 measure of repentance.
The picture of man “in his pomp yet without understanding” is indeed a bleak one—both in this life and at its end.
So praise God that this is not our own whole “Mona Lisa” self portrait/selfie.
If you grasp we have a Creator to whom we are valuable and accountable,
and that that Creator has ransomed your soul and will receive you into eternal life (Psalm 49:15),
then all of the pomp of this world will assume its proper place, and in Jesus Christ you will enjoy purpose, hope, forgiveness, and pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 49:15-20 The Message
13-15 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
16-19 So don’t be impressed with those who get rich
and pile up fame and fortune.
They can’t take it with them;
fame and fortune all get left behind.
Just when they think they’ve arrived
and folks praise them because they’ve made good,
They enter the family burial plot
where they’ll never see sunshine again.
20 We aren’t immortal. We don’t last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will return there.
Adonai gave; Adonai took;
blessed be the name of Adonai.”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible
23 (0) A psalm of David:
(1) Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
2 He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
3 he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
4 Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.
5 You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.
6 Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 