The Ransom for a Life (Psalm 49:1-12)

¹ Hear this, all you peoples;
listen, all who live in this world,
² both low and high,
rich and poor alike:
³ My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
⁴ I will turn my ear to a proverb;
with the harp I will expound my riddle:

⁵ Why should I fear when evil days come,
when wicked deceivers surround me—
⁶ those who trust in their wealth
and boast of their great riches?
⁷ No one can redeem the life of another
or give to God a ransom for them—
⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
no payment is ever enough—
⁹ so that they should live on forever
and not see decay.
¹⁰ For all can see that the wise die,
that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
leaving their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
their dwellings for endless generations,
though they had named lands after themselves.

¹² People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
they are like the beasts that perish.

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What is striking about this psalm is what it says about wealth.  No matter how much wealth is accumulated, it can do nothing to prevent death.  The wealthy will die the same as the rest.  All the wealth in the world will not provide a “ransom” to avoid the grave.

The persistence of the lie of wealth is really remarkable.  These words are as relevant as when they were written.   At various times in the history of the people of God, wealth has been equated with God’s favor.  There are some today who teach that as well.  But even more pervasive is the notion in the culture at large that more money is better than less money.   We know this is not true from a spiritual standpoint.  But it has also been demonstrated from a purely earthly standpoint as well.  Once people have enough resources to be reasonably out of poverty, increasing wealth does not mean increasing happiness and fulfillment.  It is rather irrelevant to satisfaction with life.  But consider how persistently the culture encourages the accumulation of more:  higher income, bigger house, new car, fancier clothes, etc.

Verse 7 naturally leads us to the cross.  Wealth cannot ransom us, but the life of the Son of God can.  He is the way past the grave.

So my prayer today is that the Spirit would shape the attitudes of my heart and the thinking of my mind so that I am not led astray by the allure of wealth. I pray that my priorities and plans would rather reflect the importance of investing in my Savior and the new creation life He has given me by ransoming me.

NOTE:

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