Psalms 49 - ESV - Bible Reading / Study Notes

Psalm 49

Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

49:1   Hear this, all peoples!
    Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2   both low and high,
    rich and poor together!
3   My mouth shall speak wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4   I will incline my ear to a proverb;
    I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5   Why should I fear in times of trouble,
    when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6   those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7   Truly no man can ransom another,
    or give to God the price of his life,
8   for the ransom of their life is costly
    and can never suffice,
9   that he should live on forever
    and never see the pit.
10   For he sees that even the wise die;
    the fool and the stupid alike must perish
    and leave their wealth to others.
11   Their graves are their homes forever,¹
    their dwelling places to all generations,
    though they called lands by their own names.
12   Man in his pomp will not remain;
    he is like the beasts that perish.
13   This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
    yet after them people approve of their boasts.² Selah
14   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.
15   But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
    for he will receive me. Selah
16   Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
    when the glory of his house increases.
17   For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
    his glory will not go down after him.
18   For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
    —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19   his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
    who will never again see light.
20   Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Footnotes

[1] 49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever
[2] 49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boasts

Commentary

The vanity of life, especially for the wicked.

v1-2: Listen to this! A universal message, something important.

v3: The need for wisdom and understanding; we need to speak and hear words of truth and wisdom. It is not sufficient to follow feeling or fashion. We need also to declare such truths to others.

v4: As with Elisha (2 Kings 3.15) and Ps 78.2, there is prophesying with music, in each case using the harp.

v5-9: The psalmist's "riddle"; declaring his confidence in God. There is no need to fear, even when iniquity is close, and the wicked surround us. The price of the redemption of a soul is costly. Some trust in riches, but these cannot bring redemption, either for themselves or for others. The accurate Hebrew understanding is that none can purchase a way to avoid death. Those who refuse the way of God will perish.

The glorious N.T. truth is that the Lord Jesus has paid the costly redemption price Himself (1 Pet 1.18).

v10-12: It is folly not to realise the brevity of life, even though all can see it. The wise man, knowing the brevity of life (Ps 39.4-5) considers his latter end. The ungodly, ignoring the truth, are like the beasts that perish and die.

The Hebrew reading for v12, 'Adam, being in honour, lodged not one night.' This is a reference to his rapid fall from his created innocence. Man certainly departs quickly from the ways of truth and godliness.

v13: The ungodly are influential, having followers who approve of their sayings. "Selah"; we might well think on this, for many are taken in by impractical attitudes to life.

v14: "In the morning," referring the resurrection, a new and brighter day; the godly will enjoy authority, ruling over the godly.

The ungodly, having grasped in this life, have nothing n the next.

v15: Such confidence, that God will redeem the godly from the grave (Sheol, the domain of the righteous dead). Again, in the N.T., we read of redemption that is eternal, since Christ has defeated death itself.

v16-19: We should not worry about the prosperity of the wicked; he cannot keep it beyond the grave; it lasts only while he lives.

v20: Repeating v12, those who are ignorant of spiritual truths are like the beasts that perish. Man has been given a knowledge of eternal things, yet many remain ignorant, and wilfully so.