Psalm 49

 Psalm 49

In a cemetery I visited, there is a massive monument marking the grave of a man who was extremely wealthy.  He was, apparently, a captain of industry and industrial shipping.  In the same cemetery, a few hundred yards away, there is a grave marked by an unmarked rock.  No name or dates or descriptions of the life that was lived.  Clearly this was a very poor person.  What they have in common is in the grave they are equal in wealth.  In terms of economics and many other ways, death is the great equalizer.

Verse 13 sums up the pursuit of wealth and those who make wealth a priority.  The word ‘foolish’ (NASB), or sometimes translated ‘folly’ or ‘arrogant,’ means to place trust in something doomed to fail.  Most of our culture is built on a hope that is doomed to fail because death, like a shepherd, takes everyone to their grave, where wealth is meaningless.  

But verse 15 gives the real hope.  From the grave God will redeem the righteous; God will pay the price of rescue.  Clearly this was done on the Cross.  Here we see the contrast of real and false wealth.  Are we finding our wealth in the world or in the Cross?

“Lord, help me to never place my trust in anything that will not last forever. AMEN.”