December 21
Reading: Psalm 49
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
1 Hear this, all 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 lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.
Selah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol,
with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.
Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed—
and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.
Psalm 1 was a wisdom psalm. This psalm is a wisdom psalm as well. A wisdom psalm is a poem that teaches on the two different ways, the way of wisdom and the way of foolishness. We find most of the wisdom writings of the Bible in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.
Psalm 49:1-4 prepares us for the wisdom about to follow. It is called “meditation,” “understanding,” “a proverb,” and “a riddle.” The lessons of wisdom literature are usually concealed in metaphor, humor, word-play, or an interesting puzzle. It often takes a little figuring out, some time in thought to truly understand the force of the lesson. So it is with this psalm.
Read verses 5-12 through a few times. Can you tell what sort of wisdom is being here delivered? What kind of foolishness are we warned against?
We are being warned about money. We are warned not to look enviously at those who have money. We are being warned not to trust in our money. The most important things in life are things that money cannot buy: redemption, life eternal, lasting riches, a forever home. Ponder verses 5-12 and think of how you might need to change how you think about and use your money. Money is only money, given to you by God so that you can live and bless others while you live.
Verses 13-15 set up a contrast between those who trust in their money (they are appointed for death, vs. 14) and those who trust in God (God will redeem my soul from the hand of death, vs. 15).
After a thoughtful pause, verses 16-20 warn us all to not be envious or afraid of the rich man who is arrogant (vs. 18) and might oppress you (vs. 5). He is going the way of “the beasts that perish.”