Psalms 49:1-20: a reflection

1Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, 2both low and high, rich and poor together. 3My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding. 4I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp. 5Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— 7none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. 8For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, 9that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. 10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. 12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish. 13This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah. 14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion. 15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah. 16Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him. 18Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself— 19he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light. 20A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.

Psalm 49 addresses a fear and an envy that grip us: the fear of the wealthy, and the envy of their prosperity. And it deflates both with one relentless truth: no amount of wealth can ransom a life from death. Those who trust in riches cannot redeem even themselves; the wise die, the foolish die, and all leave their wealth to others. When a rich man dies, the psalm says, he carries nothing away; his glory does not go down after him.

Notice how the psalm cuts envy and fear down to size. We look at the wealthy and prosperous and either fear them or envy them, as if their riches set them in a different, higher order of life. But death levels it all. Their wealth cannot buy them one more day, cannot follow them past the grave, cannot ransom them from death. In the one thing that matters most, they are no better off than anyone else; they take nothing with them.

And against that, the psalm sets a quiet hope: But God will ransom my soul from the power of the grave, for he will receive me. What wealth cannot buy, God freely gives, redemption from death, to those who are his. So do not fear the wealthy, and do not envy their prosperity; it ends at the grave, and they carry none of it through. Set your trust not on riches, which cannot ransom a soul, but on God, who can, and who will receive his own.

Lord, wealth cannot ransom a single life from death; the rich carry nothing with them past the grave. Free me from fearing the wealthy and envying the prosperous, as if their riches set them above the rest. Their glory ends at the grave. Thank you that what wealth cannot buy, you freely give: you will ransom my soul and receive me. Let me trust not in riches but in you.