The 49th Psalm involves a search and an appeal, which is of more relevance today, I would suggest, than it was in the time that the words were written. The writer gets to the heart of earthy issues that keep people awake at night, which create anxiety and stress. These are the issues of riches, poverty, selfishness, greed and jealousy. To approach life with its pressures and temptations we need wisdom; we especially require divine wisdom, the knowledge of God’s Word and its application to our daily affairs.

Therefore the Psalm begins with an appeal to the “inhabitants of the world” whether they be rich and powerful, poor or obscure. He calls upon all people without discrimination to hear this wisdom that would come from his lips. He calls the sayings “dark” in the sense that they are hidden, mysterious and for that reason often rejected. Yet at the same time this wisdom from God is practical, common sense and obvious in the clearest manner possible. It is the sinfulness and pride of man that obscures the clarity of divine truth, denying its relevance to our daily procedures.

THE FUTILITY OF MATERIALISM

Materialism is the god of the western world. Money and what it can buy occupies the thoughts of millions on a daily basis. The health of a nation’s economy is very often the sole barometer of a Government’s success, while other more important issues such as morality and honest convictions are disregarded. No-one denies the importance of wealth creation, many of the Scriptures’ great figures like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Job were prosperous, but its the place that it has in our thoughts and plans which is critical.

The Psalmist here is writing about a godly man who looks at the prosperity of the wicked, he despairs and may even feel a little jealous. It is a fact that the ungodly often enjoy materialistic success in this life, while the righteous are left behind. This may engender in our hearts a materialistic yearning to have a little of what others enjoy. It may even make us bitter and jealous, angry at God for allowing the wicked to succeed.

The writer deals with this problem by reminding us of that which money cannot purchase:

None of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give to God a ransom for him:
(For the redemption of their soul is precious,
and it ceaseth for ever:)
That he should still live for ever,
and not see corruption.

Psalm 49:7-9

The Christian enjoys the most precious gift of all, a redeemed soul, which guarantees a redeemed body at the resurrection day. The billionaires with their private jets, yachts, numerous homes and their many businesses cannot redeem the soul of one man. Only Jesus Christ could accomplish that when he poured out His life blood on the cross.

Therefore, with respect to eternity the richest people in the world are poor if they are without Christ.

The poorest saint of God, on the other hand, is rich beyond measure, living with an abundant hope in Christ alone.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave:
for he shall receive me. Selah.

Psalm 49:15

This is an opportune moment for us to reflect upon the riches that flow into our lives from the opened treasury of God. As Joseph opened the vast Egyptian storehouses in a time of famine, so in this world of spiritual hunger Christ has satisfied our longing hearts, giving us that which only His precious blood could purchase. There is no cure for death. There is nothing that can prevent the body perishing or ageing. Yet the Christian today has been redeemed from the power of the grave; death has been vanquished because of the resurrected Saviour. Amen!

Voltaire, the French atheist, died after a life of railing against Christianity. He pleaded with his doctor for six months of life, which the physician could not give. He died without hope. By contrast when the godly Church of Scotland minister, Thomas Halyburton lay dying in 1712, at 38 years of age he expressed such inspirational hope:

I could not believe that I could have borne, and borne cheerfully this rod for so long. This is a miracle, pain without pain. Blessed be God that ever I was born. I have a father and mothers, ten brothers and sisters in heaven and I shall be the eleventh.

THE REALITY OF DEATH

The comment is often made concerning riches, “We won’t take our money with us”. There are the rich who lavishly spend, there are the rich who miserably hoard and there are the rich philanthropists who give generously to those in need. When it comes to the end, however, all are in poverty. The corpse needs no wallets and therefore no pockets. The wise man’ s wisdom is buried with him but the rich man’s wealth is left for others to spend.

Like many people today the writer of this Psalm saw wealthy people living as if their houses would stand forever. Filled with their own importance they called their properties after their own names. Yet the day would come they would die “and leave their wealth to others”. Death does not discriminate. The rich and the poor occupy the same plot of ground large enough to hold a coffin. He saw man’s beauty fading away in death, he looked at the rich being buried like slaughtered sheep, as the corpse is put away out of sight.

This is the reality we all need, that all the things we live for in this world will stop at the grave.

We should live for that which will not end at the grave; prayers which are treasured by God, an influence for God which lingers in the hearts of all who knew us, words of testimony which can bring forth Gospel fruit after we are gone. That long after we have died, may something of the fragrance of Christ about us continue and persist.

But is there not a need for us to regulate our lives in the light of death’s onward march? Our time is so short, the years are so quickly slipping, only what’s done for Christ will last:

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

Romans 13:12

The ultimate distinction between the ungodly and the godly in the world is faith. The ungodly trust the sayings of their philosophers; “Their posterity approve their sayings” (Psalm 49:14). The world is self reliant, self assured – confident in their own values, their own worldview. The Christian on the other hand trusts God, values the Word of truth and rejoices in Christ. Let us therefore live for Him before it be too late!