Psalm 49 is another recent psalm from our reading plan which touches on some of the same themes as the final chapter of 1 Timothy, which we have just finished in our Sunday morning worship. This may have been another passage that was on Paul’s mind, as he warned Timothy about the dangers of pursuing riches and wealth.
This is a wisdom psalm, which means that it reads very much like the book of Proverbs at many points, and naturally there is quite a bit of overlap there. In the first stanza, the psalmist appeals to the people who inhabit the earth to hear his words of wisdom. He calls out to people of every class and stratum of society including the heroic champion and the average Joe, the noble as well as the needy to pay attention as he speaks to them in the form of a proverb. His goal is to expose truth rather than conceal it, and he will do so by means of this song.
He really only has two main points to make: trusting in wealth is foolish (v.5-12) and trusting in God is wise (v.13-20). He speaks of those who make money their god and seek refuge in material possessions and of those who are filled up with pride and make a great show of their wealth and the status it affords them. But the problem with money is that it can’t buy eternal life, no matter how much of it you have. The cost of a man’s life is too great, and you can never have enough to ensure deliverance from death. The psalmist puts it plainly in v.9: everyone will see the Pit!
The writer of Hebrews touches on this same idea when he says that “it is appointed for men to die once.” There are no second chances, and no amount of wealth or power or prestige will add one minute to your life. Throughout history men have dreamed about the prospect of becoming immortal, and myths of a so-called “Fountain of Youth” spurred on many explorers in North and South America in the 16th and 17th centuries. But such dreams are foolish indeed, because the one thing we can all be certain of is that we will one day die. Money will not help us then, so it is utterly foolish to trust in it now.
But there is another reason that trusting in riches is foolish, because the psalmist notes in v.10-12 that it is impossible for anyone to control his legacy. Both the wise man and the fool will perish and leave all their possessions to others. And although we may like to think that our legacy will continue down through the years, impacting one generation after the next, in reality very little of what we have done and virtually none of the things we have treasured will remain.
Have you ever had to go through someone’s home after they died to settle their estate? If you have, then you probably know what it is like to scratch your head and wonder why in the world they kept some of the things they had squirreled away. While it might have made sense to them, it is often utterly incomprehensible to the rest of us, and most of what they leave behind will be donated or thrown away. This is just reality. And if it happens to others, we can be sure it will happen to us as well. In this way, even though we are far more than mere beasts, the psalmist says we all die like them.
Now if that doesn’t cheer you up, I don’t know what will. But the psalmist goes on to contrast the foolishness of trusting in wealth with the wisdom of trusting in the Lord. Men who are fools are like sheep, never thinking beyond the immediate and obvious, and as a result they are totally unprepared for the day of their death, and their bodies simply go to the grave and rot. People who are wise on the other hand live for the world to come; they pursue righteousness rather than wealth, a long life, physical beauty, or a lasting legacy.
His statement of faith is found in v.15, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me.” What an incredible statement of faith! How can anyone say that the OT saints had not conception of the hope of the resurrection? It is clear from this verse that they fully expected the Lord to raise them up bodily after death, and that though they may die without every seeing the scales balanced, there would be a final reckoning in the future.
Additionally, the wise live in this life with confidence rather than fear. There is no need to fear the rich or to compare yourself with them, because they will end up in the same place as the poor and everyone else in between when they die. What makes the difference between the one who is wise and the one who is foolish is not length of life, because both of them will die. The difference is found in the statement in v.20, “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.” What ultimately distinguishes the believer from the unbeliever, the wise from the foolish, the confident from the fearful, is that he understands the truth which is central to this psalm.
Since we all end up in the same place, the grave, we would do well to live for the eternal future rather than the present day. No amount of wealth or power can prolong our days or ensure a lasting legacy, but faith in Yahweh leads to confidence that even if the scales are out of balance in the here and now, there is coming a day of resurrection in which the Lord himself redeems his people and rescues them from the grave. This is what we ought to live for and not the temporary pleasures and priorities of this world.
This is the same essential message as we find in 1 Timothy 6, where Paul commends to us the pursuit of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and gentleness, knowing that Christ is soon returning and all will be revealed. In the light of his coming and glory, all this world’s wealth and influence amount to nothing at all. Seek the true riches which are laid up as a foundation for the life that is to come.