For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 49

1 Hear this, all you peoples;
    listen, all who live in this world,
2 both low and high,
    rich and poor alike:
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom;
    the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
4 I will turn my ear to a proverb;
    with the harp I will expound my riddle:

5 Why should I fear when evil days come,
    when wicked deceivers surround me –
6 those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of their great riches?
7 No one can redeem the life of another
    or give to God a ransom for them –
8 the ransom for a life is costly,
    no payment is ever enough –
9 so that they should live on for ever
    and not see decay.
10 For all can see that the wise die,
    that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
    leaving their wealth to others.
11 Their tombs will remain their houses for ever,
    their dwellings for endless generations,
    though they had named lands after themselves.

12 People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
    they are like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
14 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.
15 But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.
16 Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendour of their houses increases;
17 for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendour will not descend with them.
18 Though while they live they count themselves blessed –
    and people praise you when you prosper –
19 they will join those who have gone before them,
    who will never again see the light of life.

20 People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.

A. Find Out:  

1. What does the psalmist say he will do? v.1-4
2. What is the problem before him? v.5-9
3. So what does he declare? v.10-14
4. What mighty declaration does he make about himself? v.15
5. So what counsel does he give? v.16
6. For what reason? v.17-20

B. Think:

1. With whom does the psalmist have a problem? 
2. How does he console himself about them? 
3. What is his own assurance?

C. Comment:

   There are shades of the books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes about this psalm! It’s about the futility of riches without the knowledge of God. First of all the psalmist calls us to listen as he will expound wisdom. This is indeed a psalm of wisdom.

   The psalmist looks around him and sees that, while he is in difficult (possibly life threatening) straits, others around him have wealth and riches and seem to be unconcerned about life and about God. So he ponders on this situation.

   Why am I worrying, he seems to say to himself, we’re really all the same; all of us whether rich or poor will die, and if one of us has a life threatening illness, say, no one else can pay out a ransom to save their life from death, and certainly can’t pay out to affect their eternal destiny. No, the great and the glorious may seem to be well off and secure at the moment, but they can’t stave off their moment of death, and when it comes they’ll have to leave their homes and their riches to someone else. At that moment their wealth won’t be able to help them, their destiny is just corruption in the grace. Then comes the mighty declaration – but God will redeem me for an eternal destiny to be with Him forever. What a testimony!

D. Application:

1. Trust in riches is deception. Trust is God is our only hope. 
2. After death, what? For the Christian it is assured eternal life.