Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Ps 49:2-3 and following. Indeed, faced with the future that He has just sketched out in the previous psalms, the Spirit of God now speaks to all the inhabitants of the world regardless of their rank in society. What good are the riches they pride themselves on and trust in if the greatest treasure of the earth cannot be enough to redeem one soul? Priceless ransom that we must renounce to never pay ourselves! But “God will redeem my soul”… declares verse 16. And we know what price He had to pay for her (1 Pet 1:17-21).
For if anyone seeks the honors of this world, let him meditate on verse 13, supplemented by verse 21: Where does this race for honors lead, a path of madness in which countless competitors, rich or poor, common people or sons of the great are engaged? To death where nothing is taken away! Death undermines human foresight, threatens the most prudent dispositions, darkens joys, and marks all projects with terrible uncertainty (Luke 12:16-21). So, men close their eyes for fear of having to face it. But for the redeemed, death is only the last step towards the house of his Father… for He will take it.
“He will arrive at the age of his fathers.” It shows how flattery the wicked deceive themselves and others. Whether they are still intoxicated with the praises of the world or with their own vain imaginations, they cannot, however, live beyond the age of their fathers; and, granting their lives to be extended in the longer term, it can never extend into eternity. Others understand the phrase as a synonym for them being gathered at the tomb with their fathers who preceded them; as in Scripture, death is generally called “the way of all the earth.” The psalmist, a little above, had spoken of their gathering in the tomb like sheep in a sheepfold. According to this view, the meaning of the passage is that having never aspired to heaven, but having been plunged into the low creeping pursuits of this world, they would eventually experience the same fate as their fathers.
When it is added, “They will not see the light even forever,” we must understand their sending into eternal darkness. It is that the two clauses of the verse combine to express the same truth: in order for them to flatter and deceive themselves, they cannot prolong their lives the common term mortality. However, since either interpretation agrees with the general scope of the psalm, the reader can choose for himself. The psalmist teaches us, in the words we have examined, to guard against flattering ourselves in the possessions of this world, and to be primarily concerned with attaining that happiness reserved for us in heaven. We are also warned not to get carried away by the erroneous influence of the world’s applause. Even pagan authors taught us the same lesson.
For if Rome, a city full of agitation, exalts or despises something, be careful not to be content with its weight or balance; that is, to stop at His judgment; and do not look at what others say about you, but enter into yourself and examine what you are. But the readiness to be deceived by flattery is so strongly marked in our nature, that it requires us to heed the heavier warning of the one who was inspired.
This is why Ps. 49 is a kind of moral conclusion for all, based on these judgments of God. Prosperity, worldly glory, all that man prides himself on, all this is vanity. Man expects to last, he gives his name to his land, he blesses his soul, and he is praised for his prudence and wisdom because he has done himself good; but the moment comes when “they lie in the sheol like sheep.” The man of the world still hopes, but he must leave the world in whose midst he was great; his memory, which lasts, will be nothing to him and a disappointment to others. Satan’s power is for this life, there is no longer any room for deception after it. The man who is honored and has no intelligence is like the beasts that perish, but the faithful residue trusts in God, his soul will be redeemed from the power of sheol. God will take it. The immediate expectation of the faithful would rather be to be kept alive, but it assures those who will be put to death the most complete hope. It is against the abuses of this world that the prophet directed his censorships: He addresses those who revolt in the blessings of God without any recognition of God himself, and who dedicate themselves in an enthusiastic way to the transient glory of this world, instead of rising to the contemplation of things from above.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
A man takes nothing by dying:
· Exhortations to listen to the rebuke
Dt 4:1 Now Israel listens to the laws and ordinances that I teach you. Put them into practice, so that you may live, and come into possession of the land given to you by Jehovah, the God of your fathers. Pr 7:24 And now, my sons, listen to me, and be attentive to the words of my mouth. Isaiah 51:1 Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the Lord! Look at the rock from which you were cut, on the hollow of the pit from which you were drawn. Mk 7:14 Then, having again called the crowd to him, he said to him: Listen to me all, and understand. John 2:5 Listen, my beloved brethren: Has Not God chosen the poor in the eyes of the world, that they may be rich in faith, and heirs to the kingdom that He has promised to those who love Him?
· Words of wise men
-Persuasive Jb 6:25 That true words are persuasive! But what do your remonstrances prove?
-Pleasant Pr 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet for the soul and beneficial for the body.
-Appropriate Pr 25:11 Like golden apples on silver carvings, so is a word said about.
-Full of grace Ec 10:12 The words of the mouth of the wise are full of grace; but the lips of the fool cause his loss.
-Inspired and unforgettable Ec 12:11 In addition to the fact that Ecclesiastes was a sage, he again taught science to the people, and he examined, probed, put in order a great number of sentences.
-Comforting Isa 50:4 The Lord, the Lord, has given me an exercised tongue, that I may know how to sustain by the word the one who is dejected; He awakens, every morning, he awakens my ear, so that I may listen as disciples listen.
· Parables from the Old Testament
-From Jotam Jg 9.7 Jotham was informed. He went to stand on the top of the mountain of Garizim, and this is what he shouted to them aloud: Listen to me, inhabitants of Shechem, and may God listen to you!
-From Nathan 2 Sam 12:1 The Lord sent Nathan to David. And Nathan came to him, and said to him: There were two men in a city, one rich and the other poor.
-From the wife of Tekoa 2 Sam 14:2 He sent a skilful woman to Look for Tekoa, and he said to her: Show yourself sorry, and put on the clothes of mourning; do not be sick of oil, and be like a woman who has long mourned a dead man.
-From a prophet 1 Kings 20:39 When the king passed, he cried out to him, and said, “Your servant was in the midst of the battle; and behold, a man approaches and brings me a man, saying: Keep this man; if he runs out, your life will answer with his life, or you will pay a talent of money!
-From Joah 2 Kings 14:9 And Joah, king of Israel, had Amatsia, king of Judah, say: The thorn of Lebanon sent to say to the cedar of Lebanon: Give your daughter as a wife to my son! And the wild beasts that are in Lebanon passed by and walked the thorn.
-Of the prophets Isa 5:1 I will sing to my beloved The song of my beloved on his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard, on a fertile hillside. Jer 13:1 Thus the Lord spoke to me: Go, buy yourself a linen belt, and put it on your loins; but do not soak it in water. Ez 17:3 You will say: Thus saith the Lord, the Lord: A great eagle, with long wings, wings spread, covered with feathers of all colors, came upon Lebanon, and removed the crown of a cedar. Ez 19:2-3 and say, “Your mother, what was it? A lioness. She was lying among the lions; It was in the midst of lion cubs that she raised her young. 3 She raised one of her young, Who became a young lion, And who learned to tear her prey apart; He devoured men. Ez 24:3 Offer a parable to the family of rebels, and say to them: Thus speaks the Lord, the Lord: Place, place the boiler, and pour water into it.
· Promises concerning the Resurrection
Ps 49:16 But God will save my soul from the sojourn of the dead, for He will take me under His protection. Jn 5:25 Truly, truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and it has already come, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have heard it will live. John 6:40 My Father’s will is that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will resurrect him on the last day. John 11:25 Jesus said to him: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he is dead; Acts 24:15 and having in God this hope, as they themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of the just and the unjust. 2 Cor 4:14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will also resurrect us with Jesus, and make us appear with you in his presence. 1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord Himself, at a given signal, at the voice of an archangel, and at the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will first be resurrected.
From all of the above, we note that after tracing Jehovah’s ways to his Israel, their course from affliction and decay to the establishment of glory and joy (Ps. 42-48), the prophet of God addresses a word of wisdom and warning to the whole earth, taking as its theme these ways of God towards Israel. He seems to consider them as a parable, giving us in this psalm the moral application: He shows that God resists the proud, and elevates the humble, and that only upright men have a stable inheritance. And this is, indeed, the great moral lesson to be drawn from the history of the world as well as from that of Israel. Everything shows that what is done “under the sun” is vanity; and that the resurrection, including that which leads to it in grace, and which follows it in glory, is the only reality (Ec 12:13-14). All that is honored in the world will perish like beasts. Wise and foolish die likewise: Wealth is powerless to redeem from the pit. Beauty, with the exception of that of which the God of resurrection wears his own, will be consumed in the abode of the dead; but the morning must rise for the joy and glory of all who belong to Him. The resurrection will bring everything to light. This is the testimony of the Lord. And Israel delivered in the last days will be an Israel that has gone through the resurrection, so to speak. Our prayers are with you all.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to react to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “everything seems to succeed to the wicked, but by entering the sanctuaries of God, the faithful have understood their end. »
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.