Psalm 49

The book of Psalms was the hymnbook of the temple in Jerusalem. Ps 49 seems to be a strange psalm to be found in a hymnbook. The psalms were written not just to praise God for his greatness and goodness, but they were also written to answer diverse human emotions which arise in our hearts. As we read the psalm we can be spiritually directed by the text into the direction God wants us to go in our thoughts.

Psalm 49 is a wisdom psalm. And like all wisdom psalms it tries to answer hard questions of the injustices of life and how God comforts in response. Although wisdom psalms were not written to us - they were originally written for the choir to sing in the Jerusalem temple – but they were written for us, in fact for all people in all times – if we care to read them. Psalm 49 is in our Bibles for a reason.

The question is: “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?” I don’t think it concerned times of trouble like an invasion or war or famine or plague … but the trouble caused by the pervading sense of injustice because of massive inequalities in society.

Benjamin Franklin spoke the famous saying that: Only two things were certain in life: Death and taxes. The psalmist here reassures himself that the wealth of the wealthy will not in fact help them in death. Death is the great leveller, not socialism. The rich and the poor, the wise and the foolish will all die in the end. There is no answer to the inevitability of death. 

Victorian graveyards and town statues are great evidence of the futility of wealth. Huge sums were spent on memorials with statues of angels praying over them, but soon they are all forgotten. They quickly become overgrown with weeds and ivy, no-one visits those graves now. British towns are full of statues of people whose citizens no longer remember who they were or why they had a statue erected in their memory. No man can ransom another. Money cannot do it.

One of the most abiding memories of a recent visit to USA was chancing upon a military funeral at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. I saw the graveyard full of the graves of 3, 4 & 5 star generals before whom men trembled, but they are now forgotten names and their bodies are moulding away.

I watched while the body of a former officer was drawn to his grave by six well-turned out horses on a gun carriage. A threefold gun salute was fired over his grave. A military band played the allocated allowance of two hymns beautifully. The widow received the American flag, perfectly folded into a triangle – the perfectly timed service ended, gun carriage pulled away, the honour guard marched off, the widow was led to a car.

But what came next shocked me. Suddenly a gang of scruffy men appeared in a dirty truck. The fake lawn was rolled away, the folding chairs were noisily thrown on to the back of a truck, a huge noisy machine from the ‘Washington Vault Company’ lowered a lid on to the grave. The son ran back to the graveside hearing all this commotion and he cried out “Dad!” in a loud voice. All the honour had evaporated in minutes. The years of service to his country had come to just this! And we tourists just walked on by. After this beautiful ceremony, it was as though nothing had happened there. Just 18 blank rifle cartridges and a pile of horse manure! Is that it? Death is a fearsome leveller.

Ps 49 is recited morning and evening prayers in a Jewish home for the week after there has been a death in the family. It would have been a familiar psalm. It states the timeless problem vv7ff … 

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 for ever
and never see the pit.

Jesus restates this ancient problem as well … I am sure he was thinking of Ps 49 when he spoke these words …

 Mt 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

In the midst of this psalm, in v15 incredibly there is the promise of redemption by God. We will see this author in glory. 

15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
 for he will receive me.

As the two unknown disciples were told on the Emmaus Road

Lk 24:27 “… And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” 

All the scriptures are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The Israelites worshipping in the temple of Solomon had not yet heard how v15 would happen and be fulfilled, but we now have heard the gospel, that:

1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

 The psalmist not only raises the problem, he provides the solution in v15 and gives us a conclusion for us to go away with in vv16ff.

The gospel is not just our salvation or our hope of eternal life, but it is also our opportunity to understand the world better - as human beings, as Christians and better still as missionaries.

So the psalmist concludes: “Be not afraid when a man becomes rich …” The fear is not that we find rich men frightening, but the fear whether you have made a ghastly mistake somewhere when you see your friends back home getting along just fine with plenty of resources. You are dumb enough to go to missionary training college.

 Mt 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

 Well done guys – missions is the centre of God’s will.