In my library I have several books of sermons on selected psalms. In none of my books is there a sermon on Psalm 49. Evidently, those preachers did not consider this psalm to be one of the better or most notable psalms written. But I really like it. The lesson it teaches is one of the most important, relevant and needed in all the psalms. Follow along with me...

1-2

Here is a psalm for all inhabitants of the world, literally "the fleeting" world, the transitory world. Here is a psalm for those who live in a world that is quickly and inexorably passing away. Peterson’s translation is especially vivid: "Listen, everyone, listen - earth dwellers, don’t miss this. All you haves and have-nots, all together now, listen." Must be something really important here.

3-4

The psalmist turns his ear to listen. Evidently he is listening to God who gives him a proverb that is designed to provide us with much needed wisdom and understanding. Here it is...

5-6

The psalmist speaks of a situation in which the wicked rich bully and demean him. It is not that the rich are equated with the wicked. It is not that the rich are necessarily wicked. It is not that all rich people are wicked. The rich can do many good things for God with their money. It is rather that the wicked are people who trust in their wealth. They boast of their riches. This is what they live for. For these people, money and possessions are the main thing.

They don’t see any sense in laying up treasures for some place called heaven they can’t even see. They see no sense in giving away good hard earned money for something like mission work or orphans. As far as they are concerned, going to church on Sundays is by and large a waste of time. And they waste no opportunity to show their disdain for those who invest their lives and money in such things. They never fail to feel contempt for Christians who live a more simple and sacrificial lifestyle. No, for these people the future is now. Making money and getting rich and enjoying what money can buy is life’s greatest work and highest end.

God is telling us that when people think this way and live this way, they are putting themselves in company with the wicked. It is a big mistake to trust in our wealth - like so many do.

Because...

7-9

The psalmist lays before us the great limitation of money and the foolishness of trusting in money. Money can’t buy off death. No amount of money can keep us from dying. Not that people won’t spend any amount of money trying. it happens all the time. People go through their life’s savings, they spend whatever they have to stay alive - but in every case it is eventually to no avail. Money can sometimes postpone death - but not for long.

Of course the gospel of Jesus Christ is that what is impossible for us is possible with God. While it is true that "no man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him - ... no payment is ever enough - that he should live on forever and not see decay", Jesus has in fact redeemed life for us. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45) "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins..." (Ephesians 1:7) "We wait eagerly for... the redemption of our bodies." (Romans 8:23)

Jesus has indeed paid the price necessary to give us life such that we can live forever and not see decay. Through Christ we have been provided a resurrection from the dead, a resurrected life in which the body will be changed and never see decay! This is what makes the gospel of Jesus Christ such good news. While the price for life is more that we can pay, in fact Jesus has paid it for us!

But the wicked don’t understand that! No, they continue to trust in their own riches which in the end will do them absolutely no good at all.

10

It is self evident that all men die. One of my favorite scriptures for funerals is the one that says, "... death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart." (Ecc. 7:2) We are each going to die, and the Bible repeatedly brings this to our attention and insists that the wise thing to do is to take this to heart!

Not only is there wisdom in facing this fact but there is also wisdom in noting that when one dies, he leaves his wealth to others. Through the ages the living have buried the riches with the dead in a vain attempt to enable the dead to carry their riches with them. The Egyptians filled the pyramids with the riches of the dead buried there - but to no avail.

11

According to a NIV footnote, the original Hebrew apparently reads this way: "In their thoughts, their houses will remain forever, their dwellings for endless generations..." If this is the correct text, the writer is telling us that the rich often deceive themselves into thinking that their houses (and properties etc.) will be theirs forever. But it is all the devil’s big lie.

Peterson’s translation is good:

Anyone can see that the brightest and the best die,
wiped out along with fools and dunces.
They leave all their prowess behind ,
move into their new home, The Coffin,
The cemetery their permanent address.
And to think they had named counties after themselves!

Whether one is rich or poor, there is great wisdom in seeing this, that at death possessions and position are completely wiped out and become a thing of the past, that...

12

Riches are not all they are cracked up to be. They do not make a man great. They do not allow a man to escape the death angel and they are lost when death comes.

13

The psalmist wants us - and the rich who trust in themselves and their riches rather than in God, who invest their greatest efforts in the acquiring of earthly riches and who rest their hopes and dreams on such - to think about this. What will be the fate of these people? Where are they going? A hundred years from now, where will they be and in what condition will they be?

14

This is their fate. This is their end. In one word - death! And those they ridiculed and criticised all those years for their church going, for their giving of their money for the orphans and the preaching of the gospel, for their missionary work etc. will "rule over them". They will come out on top in the sense that the godly who live their lives as faithful sacrificial Christians will finally be vindicated while those who live primarily for money will finally see the terrible error of their way.

Peterson’s translation is helpful here:

This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves
Death herds them like sheep sent straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing -
nothing left but a marker in the cemetery.

But for the godly, for the righteous, for the faithful, for God’s man or woman, the future will be of a very different sort.

15

Though the Old Testament writers did not have a clear revelation of the future life or of the resurrection (It was Jesus who "brought life and immortality to light by the gospel" 2 Timothy 1:10). Nevertheless, the writer instinctively and intuitively appears to believe that God will redeem his life from the grave, God will deliver him from the power of the grave. He believes not merely that God will spare his life for awhile in distinction from the wicked, but that God will actually provide him life after death. He hints at and hopes for a resurrection!

The conclusion?

16-20

The man who has riches without understanding. While he lives he congratulates himself, he considers himself blessed - and so do his neighbors who praise him in his prosperity. In the community he is held in high regard for his money. But alas the time comes when he must go the way of all the earth. He dies and is not able to take anything of his earthly treasures with him. Even worse, he dies without God and therefore without hope. Because he has not prepared for eternity, because he has not invested in heavenly treasures, because he has lived without thought of God, he will never see the light of life. "A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish." In other words, he has no future!

Peterson:

So don’t be impressed with those who grow rich (or I might add with the lure of riches)
and pile up fame or 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.

What powerful words to consider! What a powerful lesson! Money is not wicked, but the love of money is. And the selfish, proud use of riches, living extravagantly with our riches is evil and finds in the end an eternity of outer darkness!