Thoughts On Psalms 49
*The Futility of Dependency on Riches* .
This Psalm is a total diversion from the usual Psalms of praises or petitions to the Almighty God .
It begins with a prophetic shout of awakening to the whole world addressing a fundamental human concern which is glaringly prevalent today in our society especially with the increased inflation and income disparity in these present times.
Two categories of people are identified :-
– The poor who are afraid and don’t need to be.
– The rich who depend on their riches who are not afraid and should be.
It is important to note that God is not against riches, in fact, He gives the power to become rich as we see in the lives of Abraham,Isaac,Job, David, Solomon etc. He never intended for the wealth to take His place in our hearts and also to be used as an instrument for oppression.
Summary
Psalms 49 can be divided into the following
1 – Vs 1 – 4 ,The Introduction of Wisdom and sound warning to the whole World.
2 – Vs 5-9 Those who trust in their wealth and take undue advantage to exert wickedness on the poor
Four types of Riches –
– Riches In what you have
– Riches in what you do
– Riches in what you know
– Riches in what you are, that is riches of Character.
3 – What Money cannot buy Vs 10 – 12
When we die, money cannot buy us eternal life and cannot be taken beyond this earth.
4 – 13 – 14 – Hope in God is the ultimate and anyone that trust in God will not be let Down
5 – Vs 16 – 19 – We are not to be overawed when others grow rich and we are not there yet.
LESSONS
– Riches are not intended and should not take the place of God in our lives.
– God is not against riches because He owns the wealth of the earth and desires that we should have it for His pleasure.
– It should not be used for wickedness
– At death, the rich and the poor will be the same and will face their Creator on equal terms.
– It is there wise to put God first whether Rich or Poor. Upright living is paramount for the living here on earth.
– All the riches a man has can never be sufficient to pay the ransom for a single life ( Mathew 6:26).
– To secure eternal life is the most important thing while alive and that is why God sent His only begotten son Jesus Christ to redeem man from eternal damnation
(Isaiah 53:10- 12, Peter 1:18).
Food for thought
Death is the Ultimate statistic but we have a choice:- death without hope by living carelessly or death full of hope, accepting Jesus Christ as the ransom and living uprightly securing eternal life and avoiding eternal corruption.
