Read Psalm 49

I remember as a pastor in my early thirties an alarming conversation I had with a friend.  He said, “I believe Jesus will return, but I hope He doesn’t come very soon.  I have a lot of things I still want to do.”  What was alarming was not that he said this; rather it was that my only answer to him was theological or Biblical.  I could not answer honestly of a yearning to be with Christ.  Like my friend, my heart was set on today.  I knew I was supposed to have some longing to be with Christ.  But I had none!  This Psalm tells why.

This is a song to be sung by everyone, the rich and poor, the high and low alike (vs.1-4).  “All the inhabitants of the world” (v1) need this wisdom.  The wisdom is in a proverb (v4) given twice (v12, 20) in the Psalm.  It says that a man, even one who is highly decorated and well thought of (“in honor”), will die.  In that regard he is no more than the beasts that perish.  

The Psalmist is tempted to fear the difficult time in which he lives (v5).  He may feel his lack of funds might leave him in a hopeless situation.  But then we see that his wealth is not, in fact, a secure hope.  Money cannot redeem him; money cannot keep him from his inevitable date with the grave (v6-9). 

The odd thing is, however, that in looking around, he sees fools that have no sense of death’s inevitability (v11).  They live as if they think their bodies will go on forever.  Over the years I have seen many people when they came to the point in their lives when the inevitability of death became real.  It might have been after a birthday with a “0” or a visit to the doctor.  Whatever it was, it triggered serious reflections about life and the reality of death.  

It’s not that a person actually believes they will never die.  It is simply that the reality of their own death plays no role in how they live their lives day to day.  They live in ease and luxury, rejoicing in this life’s temporary successes.  “This is the way of those who are foolish” (v13).

Some might ask if this is not a depressing way to think.  We could get tedious if we were in constant conversation about death (I have friends like that, and they are indeed tedious).  But to ignore death is to live a lie.  The truth is: 100% of people born into this world have died or will die!  Such is the power of the grave.

Where is the hope in all this?  The hope is in v15: “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me.”  Like Job, the writer trusts in a Redeemer.  Though his sins have give him a home in the graveyard, the Redeemer guarantees that at death God will receive him.  Because of the Redeemer, the hope of the resurrection is as real as the grave itself.

Before we yearn for a Redeemer and resurrection we must come to grips with the reality and power of death.  Whoever you think you are, and whoever others think you are, do you understand that death is in your future, sooner or later?