Wed, 7 September, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.

Psalm 49:5-15

⁵ 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?
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 forever
and never see the pit.

¹⁰ For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
¹¹ Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
¹² Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah
¹⁴ Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
Death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
¹⁵ But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah

The Psalmist asks a question: Why should you be afraid when evil people prosper? When you look around you see people who violate God’s law and are not at all concerned about it. Yet these people are the ones who get the power and the riches. It doesn’t seem right or fair, and these people have the ability to cause much trouble. Although it is natural to fear them and the harm they can inflict, the Psalmist takes another view and asks why be afraid of them at all?

You see, these people might have wealth and power, but it will do them no good in the end. Their money can’t buy them a pass when it comes time for them to die. It doesn’t matter how big their homes were in life, all have the same final home: the grave. Even if they were so influential that countries are named after them, they still end up in the same place. They will die, and so will you.

So why fear them? What’s the worst they can do? Send you to the grave. But even with all their wealth and power, they will also be there soon.

What do we learn from this?

Confidence in our possessions is misplaced. It doesn’t matter how many things we have, or how much power we accumulate. These things can do nothing for us when we die, and we can not take them with us. (There’s a Don Henley song with the line: “You don’t seen no hearses with luggage racks.”) The rich cannot buy themselves right with God, and death levels all to the same status.

So what hope do we have? If we are rich and powerful, it does us no good. And if we are poor and weak, we just get taken advantage of by the rich and powerful. But in the end, we all die, and our possessions and power (or relative lack thereof) do us on good.

The Psalmist doesn’t leave us in this state of hopelessness. The hope comes in verse 15. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Since I can’t ransom myself no matter how much money or power I have, God must ransom me. I can’t do it, and He has done it for me.

If I am trusting in anything I do or anything I have to purchase my redemption and to make myself right with God, I have no hope at all. It is a foolish confidence, and my end will be to be consumed in Sheol [the place of the dead], with no place to dwell. Hell awaits those who think that they can buy God off by having more good deeds than bad deeds, or by having given enough money to charity, or by having joined the right church. You can never pay God the price of your life, and no payment you can make can ever suffice.

My only hope is to trust in the ransom for my soul that God has provided. Only by this can I be rescued from the power of Sheol.

Where is Christ in this passage?

⁷ Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life…. ¹⁵But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.

Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God. Thus He is able to represent us before God and be our federal head. He is the second Adam who perfectly obeyed God’s commands. And He is God. So He can pay the price for our salvation. He is the one who paid the ransom for the souls of all who come to Him in faith. He died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of all His people, and He gives them His perfect righteousness, so that His people are acceptable before God.

Thus it is because of the atoning work of Jesus Christ that the power of Sheol is broken and God will receive His people.