Pre-Pre-load Psalm

This morning as I was eating breakfast before work, I was reading my daily Psalm. It happened to be Psalm 49. It just really stood out to me for some reason.

In Psalm 49:5-9, the Psalmist writes, “Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.” The Psalmist has absolutely no fear of those who have sinned against him by cheating him out of his money. He has no fear because that money cannot buy their souls. The price of a soul is too high for any sum of money to purchase. The debt we owe God is far too great a debt for all of the monies in the world to purchase–even just one soul. This is the truth we must all come to understand in order to understand the gospel.

In the next part of the Psalm we read, “This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah. 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. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah” (49:13-15). The Psalmist writes that those who trust in their possessions and in what they can accomplish in this life by whatever means possible are all destined for Sheol, for death. There is no eternal life for them. Their possessions gain them nothing for they will remain here in this life only. However, the Psalmist does not put his trust in the things of this world, in money fame and prestige. He places his trust not in humanity but in God alone. He trusts in God’s money to ransom him from the debt he owes. He trusts that God has the ability to pay that debt. Indeed God does have the ability. Indeed, God is willing to pay that debt, as the Psalmist here writes.

Therefore the Psalmist writes in conclusion, “Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish” (49:20). Any man or woman in all that person’s accumulations who does not understand the simple truth that the Psalmist outlined in the Psalm is like the beast that perishes. That person is like an animal, a beast of burden. He has slaved all of his life and came to nothing. He labors and dies.