Psalms 49
Big idea: A wisdom psalm addressed to everyone alive — low and high, rich and poor together — about a purchase nobody can make. None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him, for the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough. The rich man's error is not greed but arithmetic: he thinks his house will endure forever, and he names his lands after himself. Against that stands the psalm's own hope, stated once and not elaborated: but God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.
Psalm 49 says wealth can't buy a life. Psalm 50 has God say he doesn't want anything you own anyway.
49:1–12 — No payment is ever enough
A wisdom psalm that addresses the whole world rather than Israel, and announces itself as a riddle to be solved on a harp. The riddle is an economic one: what is a life worth? The answer is that the market cannot price it — 'no payment is ever enough' — which cuts both ways. The rich man cannot buy his brother out of death, and neither can anyone else. The movement ends by putting man and animal in the same sentence.
1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, 2 both low and high, rich and poor together. 3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp. 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches— 7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. 8 For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, 9 that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. 10 For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. 12 But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.
49:13–20 — But God will redeem my soul
The second half repeats the refrain about animals and adds one verse that does not fit the arithmetic: 'but God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.' Nine verses earlier the psalm proved that no payment is ever enough — and here it names a redeemer who is not paying, but receiving. The claim is asserted, not explained, and it is the only exception the psalm allows.
13 This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah. 14 They 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. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah. 16 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17 for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him. 18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself— 19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light. 20 A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).