To the chief musician, a psalm for the sons of Korah
49
📚Hear this, all you people.
Give ear, all you inhabitants
of the world,
2 📚Both low and high, rich and poor,
together.
3 📚My mouth will speak of wisdom,
and the meditation of my heart
will bring
understanding.
4 📚I will turn my ear to a proverb;
I will disclose my riddle on the harp.
49:1-4 The inspired writer of this psalm has a message for all peoples everywhere. He was fulfilling one purpose God had for Israel, and that was to be a channel for His Word to the world. The Bible is for all, not for a small part of humanity. The message of this psalm concerns some exceedingly important matters of earthly life.⚜
5 📚Why should I fear in the days
of evil,
when the wickedness
at my heels surrounds me?
49:5 In the rest of the psalm he reveals why he does not fear the sinful rich who bring evil days to him. Their power is extremely limited – they cannot escape death (vs 6-14), and cannot prevent God from redeeming him (v 15). And they are like beasts which have no real understanding (v 20). The teachings of the Lord Jesus are in perfect harmony with this, as we might expect (Matt 10:28; Luke 12:32; 12:15-21; 16:13, 19-31; 18:24-25).⚜
6 📚Those who trust in their wealth,
and boast of the greatness
of their riches,
7 📚none of them can
by any means redeem his brother,
or give to God a ransom for him
8 📚(for the redemption of their souls
is costly,
and is left undone by them
forever)
9 📚that he should live on forever,
and not see the grave.
49:7-9 No amount of money will keep a man permanently alive, no sum can redeem another from death. Then what is the value of the wealth of these wicked men? Though it may make them more comfortable here for their brief time on earth, it cannot help them in the endless ages of eternity.⚜
10 📚For he sees that
wise men die;
likewise the fool and the senseless
person perish,
and leave their wealth to others.
11 📚Their inward thought is that
their houses will continue
forever,
and their dwelling places
to all generations.
They call their lands
after their own names.
49:11 See Ps 10:6. They foolishly and proudly refuse to face the fact of death.⚜
12 📚Nevertheless, man,
even though in honour,
does not remain.
He is like the beasts that perish.
13 📚This is the way of their folly,
and their posterity approve of
their sayings. Selah
14 📚Like sheep they are laid in the grave 📖.
Death will feed on them 📖,
and the upright will rule over
them in the morning;
and their beauty will be consumed
in the grave,
far from their home.
15 📚But God will redeem my soul
from the power of the grave;
for he will receive me. Selah
49:15 Note on “redeem” at Ps 78:35. What no man can do (vs 7-9) God has done (Hos 13:14; Gal 4:5; Titus 2:14; 1 Pet 1:18; Rev 5:9). In this verse again there is the suggestion of eternal life with God. It was but dimly perceived by Old Testament believers and sometimes hardly perceived at all. But the teaching was there in seed form (Ps 16:11; 17:15; 23:6). It was the assurance of heavenly life after death in the heart of the psalmist which took away the fear of what the sinful rich could do.⚜
16 📚Do not be afraid when someone
is made rich,
when the glory of his house
is increased,
49:16 In v 5 he encouraged himself concerning the state of affairs in the world. Here he encourages others (compare Ps 37:7; Prov 23:17; 24:19-20).⚜
17 📚For when he dies he will carry
nothing away.
His glory will not descend after him.
18 📚Though while he lived he blessed
his soul (and men will
praise you,
when you do well for yourself),
19 📚He will go to the generation
of his fathers.
They will never see light.
20 📚Man who has
honour,
and does not understand,
is like the beasts that perish.
49:19-20 The rich may forget God and still greatly prosper. But the end of such people is eternal darkness – Matt 25:30; John 12:35; 2 Pet 2:17; Jude 13.⚜