LHC Midday Word: PSALM Forty Nine

For the director of music.

Of the Sons of Korah.

A psalm.

Hear this, all you peoples;

listen, all who live in this world,

both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

My mouth will speak words of wisdom;

the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.

I will turn my ear to a proverb;

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

Why should I fear when evil days come,

when wicked deceivers surround me –

those who trust in their wealth

and boast of their great riches?

No one can redeem the life of another

or give to God a ransom for them –

the ransom for a life is costly,

no payment is ever enough –

so that they should live on for ever

and not see decay.

For all can see that the wise die,

that the foolish and the senseless also perish,

leaving their wealth to others.

Their tombs will remain their houses for ever,

their dwellings for endless generations,

though they had named lands after themselves.

People, despite their wealth, do not endure;

they are like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

They are like sheep and are destined to die;

death will be their shepherd

(but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).

Their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;

he will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when others grow rich,

when the splendour of their houses increases;

for they will take nothing with them when they die,

their splendour will not descend with them.

Though while they live they count themselves blessed –

and people praise you when you prosper –

they will join those who have gone before them,

who will never again see the light of life.

People who have wealth but lack understanding

are like the beasts that perish.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 49 : “death” (v.14)

This is a serious word of “wisdom” for everyone (vv.1-3). It’s about “life” (vv.7 & 15), “decay” (vv.9 & 14) and “death” (v.14), of how a man will tend to focus on trying to “prosper” (v.18) and grow “rich” (v.16), when it’s clear he can “take nothing with him” (v.17). Is that it?

Is our tenuous grip on life the sum total of our existence? Shining through the pervading gloom comes this ray of light: “but God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself” (v.15). Centuries before Christ came, confidence blossomed about life after ‘death’. Even much earlier Job felt it (19 vv.25-27). U2!

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READING

Psalm Forty Nine

Read by David Suchet