A Proverb

Introduction

What comes to mind when you hear these names? John D. Rockefeller. Andrew Carnegie. Henry Ford.

Now, several things may come to mind but one thing that unites all of these people is that they were some of the wealthiest men to ever live.

Today, people argue over who’s richer, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk but to be honest, they’ve got nothing on the amount of personal wealth that men like Rockefeller, Carnegie, or Ford held.

Adjusted to today’s dollars, Carnegie had a personal net worth of around $310 billion. Rockefeller had a personal net worth of around $340 billion.

These men had unbelievable wealth. Unbelievable influence. Unbelievable control and power in their day.

But, let me ask you this as well. Besides me, right now, who’s really talking about John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie, and Henry Ford today? Is anyone in the world today feeling as though these men with all their wealth, and power, and prestige are still carrying significant influence?

No. Today’s probably the first time in years that you’ve even heard their names mentioned or thought about them for more than a second.

And why is that? It’s because none of these men are still alive today. It’s because as incredible as it is to think about how wealthy these men were, it’s still just that. They WERE wealthy. It’s in the past. Wealth does not bring immortality. Prestige does not last forever. Death still comes to everyone, both rich and poor, both wise and foolish.

As this psalm so poetically says, “Death shall be our shepherd.”

No amount of riches. No amount of wealth. No amount of power or fame or prestige will save you from that and in fact, to trust in riches or to yearn for them in such a way that you believe that just by accumulating more and more that you’ll finally find some level of peace and hope in life is in fact, foolish.

Psalm 49 really reads like a proverb; a wise saying. But it also reads like a commentary to Jesus’ teaching in Luke 12.

Jesus once said,

Luke 12:15

“Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

He then goes on to tell a parable of a rich man who had so much land that his barns couldn’t hold the amount of crops he was producing. He had so much that he ended up tearing down his old barns to build bigger ones so that he could just store all of his grain and goods.

Now, the point of the parable isn’t to teach us that saving and preparing for the future is a foolish thing, but this man stored up his possessions so that he could just sit back, relax, hoard it all to himself and say, “I’ve got it all covered.” “I’ve arrived.” “I have nothing more to fear.” “Nothing can take me down now.” “This is my security.”

Jesus said of this man,

Luke 12:20

[You] ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Meaning, “death will be your shepherd.” And all that you have will be left behind to someone else who didn’t earn it and now they get to enjoy it.

Psalm 49 is a psalm about the emptiness of riches.

It’s a psalm that we all need to listen to. We need to hear it. We need to respond to it, and we need to hold up our lives next to it.

Problem

This psalm opens much like a proverb.

Verse 1,

Psalm 49:1–3

Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together! My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

Do you hear wisdom’s call to all people? Whether you’re rich or poor, you need to hear this. Why everyone? You might be tempted to think, “I don’t have any money.” “Here’s my bank statement if you want to take a look.” “I don’t have any riches to be resting in so this must be for all you wealthy people out there.”

But that’s not how the psalm opens. “Both low and high, rich and poor together.” Listen! Why?

The wealthy need to hear this because they’re tempted to trust in their current wealth as a means of peace and security whereas the poor are tempted to think that if they were to just attain a certain level of wealth they’ll find peace and security. Both pursuits lead to misery and are foolish. We all need to hear this.

As believers in here, we need to hear this psalm.

As those of us who have grown up in the West, from birth then, we have been discipled by the world to find happiness in things. Being materialistic does not mean you necessarily own a lot of possessions. You may own very little and still be a materialist because materialism isn’t defined by owning a collection of expensive things, unique things, many things, but instead finding your joy and satisfaction in the things of this world, whatever they may be and however much or little of these things you actually own.

You cannot argue with me that happiness in things is not the mantra of our culture. The air we have breathed since we took our first breath.

And the church has not escaped this. Even those of us who are active in Christian work and engaged with the church. Far too often our hope is placed in the things we can see and not in spiritual realities that we cannot see. Which means, then our inclination, our temptation, and often our realization is to trust in wealth, to trust in creation rather than in the Creator. To think that true power is found in the accumulation of stuff and influence.

But it’s just not true. And so, this psalm calls us to listen to wisdom and find life.

Body

This is the introduction.

A call to hear wisdom.

And so, the psalmist, in this introduction says, “listen.” Hear wisdom which will lead you into fullness of joy, hope, and eternal life. Hear God’s words, the God who has made you, who has made all things tell you where your hope and joy should be found. Hear, as we’ve learned from previous psalms why those who hope in God should not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam (Ps. 46).

Hear why we should not fear when surrounded by enemies, by those who would seek to harm us, abuse us, mistreat us, oppress us, cheat us (Ps. 37). And hear in this psalm today why we need not fear the powerful and wealthy, hear today the foolishness of hoping in riches and the things of this world. Our hope is in a God who owns everything. Our hope is in a God who reigns over everything, both life and death.

This is our hope. Will you listen to wisdom today?

Let’s jump in. Verse 4.

Psalm 49:4

I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

The psalmist begins by,

Asking a riddle.

My kids love trying to figure out riddles. At the dinner table, every time without fail my daughter will say, “can we do table questions?” Meaning, she’s wanting us to engage in meaningful, thought-provoking questions about either our day, or about us as a family. Our likes, our dislikes, our personalities and so forth. And so, sometimes I ask “Would you rather questions,” like, “would you rather be able to see 10 minutes into the future or 150 years into the future?” “Would you rather be able to stop time or go back in time?” “Would you rather have the ability to be invisible or the ability to fly?”

My kids love questions like those, and now that’s all you guys are going to be thinking of from this point forward. But they also love riddles. Such as, “What’s really easy to get into but very hard to get out of?” Now, just so you’re not all thinking about that the rest of the morning, the answer to that riddle is “trouble.”

The psalmist here is asking a riddle. It’s an ambiguous saying. He’s solving a difficult problem. It’s the riddle of what we might call, “the mystery of life, death, and prosperity.”

So, what’s the riddle?

Verse 5.

Psalm 49:5–6

Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?

What’s the riddle? Well, trouble naturally brings fear.

If you were to get caught standing in the middle of a golf course during a lighting storm holding a 9-iron, that should bring with it some fear.

If the brakes in your car give out while driving down the interstate at 70mph, that should cause you to fear.

If you’re at the zoo and the gate to the lion cage breaks and pops open, a natural response would be fear.

Trouble naturally brings with it, fear. And so, the riddle the psalmist seeks to solve is why he should not fear in times of trouble. This is a mystery. Why he should not fear when his enemies surround him, cheat him, oppress him. When his enemies who seek to do him harm have great wealth, great power, and great influence. When it seems as though the cards are stacked against you.

Listen, is the culture today becoming more tolerant or less tolerant of Christians? Are those in positions of authority and power becoming more Christ-like or less Christ-like? Might be a bit of a mixed bag there but I think we would agree that western culture especially is moving further away from just basic Christian morality.

And this is to be expected. The world will never accept the person of Christ and his message. Which is a message of repentance and faith. Meaning, human beings are wicked and sinful who need to repent and turn in faith to Jesus and submit to him as Lord. That they must deny themselves and follow him.

That’s the message of Christ, that’s what we proclaim. Therefore, naturally trouble will come from those who reject that but here’s the riddle; why do we not fear when trouble surrounds us from those in positions of great power and influence?

Well, let’s get to the next section of this psalm.

Solving the riddle.

Verses 7-12

Psalm 49:7–12

Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit. For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever, their dwelling places to all generations, though they called lands by their own names. Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.

What’s the great equalizer, the great leveler of humanity no matter how strong you are, how rich you are, how powerful you are? How influential you are? It’s death. Death is the great equalizer and no one can escape it no matter how strong or wealthy you are.

Do you guys remember the scene in Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indy is in the marketplace and gets into a fight with a bunch of bungling bad guys. Well, he beats them all up cause they’re just a bunch of buffoons and gets away only to be confronted by a skilled swordsman. You remember, if you’ve seen the movie, and spoiler alert here, but if you haven’t seen it yet, that’s your fault, it came out in 1981. But you remember that in that scene the crowd parts and Indy comes face to face with this villain who’s big and tall and scary looking, dressed all in black and waving this shiny Arabian sword around, doing all sorts of tricks with it. It’s obvious that this guy is a skilled fighter that Indy has little chance against.

Well, Indy just pulls out his revolver and one shot does it and the the bad guy is down in a matter of seconds.

No one on earth has the ability to escape death and like verse 7 says, no one on earth has the ability to save another, ransom another, redeem another from death no matter how powerful or wealthy they may be.

During the 18th century, the French atheist, Voltaire was one of the most famous and well-known individuals to rise up during the enlightenment. His writings, especially his satirical attacks on Christianity were read almost everywhere. Which caused him to become a very wealthy and influential man.

Yet, it was reported that when Voltaire was on his death bed he cried and cried to his doctor in desperation and told him that he would give the doctor half of all his possessions if he would but give him six more months of life. Of course, the doctor was unable to do that, and Voltaire died leaving everything he had behind.

Even with all his wealth, he couldn’t slow the approach of death. It’s the great equalizer.

That’s verse 10. Both the wise and the foolish can’t escape the clutches of death. But what separates the wise from the foolish is that the wise understand and accept their mortality whereas the foolish avoid it, reject it, refuse it, or think their wealth in some way can save them. All people know that death is inescapable but fools, according to the Scriptures live as though they will live forever.

Now, you may be thinking, “So, are we just supposed to live with this inescapable thought weighing on us of our inevitable demise?” Not at all, and Scripture doesn’t call us to live in a state of fear, worry, or hopelessness either.

But, when we live as though death is not a reality, we actually take our eyes off of God and begin to live in such a way that is not dependent upon Him.

Death, as hard as it is, is a reminder to us of the temporary state of this world. It’s a reminder to us that this world and we ourselves are fractured and broken and in need of redemption. It’s a reminder to us that nothing in this world can be our security and ultimate peace. It reminds us that our ultimate need is God’s grace and forgiveness. It’s a reminder to us that though everything in life is temporary, God’s love for those who belong to him is eternal.

Tim Keller, in his masterful little book “On Death” says as much,

“Rather than living in fear of death, we should see death as spiritual smelling salts that will awaken us out of our false belief that we will live forever. When you are at a funeral, especially one for a friend or a loved one, listen to God speaking to you, telling you that everything in life is temporary except for His love.” - Tim Keller

He goes on to say.

It’s in death that God says, “If I’m not your security, then you’ve got no security, because I’m the only thing that can’t be taken away from you. I will hold you in my everlasting arms. Every other set of arms will fail you, but I will never fail you.” - Tim Keller

The fool beats his chest and says, “Nothing can stop me.” “Look how great I am.” “I’m invincible.”

But the reality is, verse 12.

“Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish.”

And so, to answer the riddle the psalmist proposes, “Why should we not fear when trouble surrounds us?” Because trouble is temporary and will not remain forever. Those who cause trouble are temporary and will not remain forever. In fact, those who would seek to cause trouble, abuse their power and authority, oppress those underneath them, flex their wealth have a great judgment coming upon them and those who hope in God have a great reward.

That’s verses 13-15.

Psalm 49:13–15

This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts. 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. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.

This here is,

The Great Contrast - between the wise and the foolish.

The psalmist here is going to continue speaking of the fool’s inevitable demise but he’s also going to speak to any who would be wise enough to hear his words and respond to them.

In verse 13 we see the path of the fool, the path of the one who trusts in their riches. We also see in verse 13 the path of those who approve of their foolishness. Meaning, not all who are foolish are rich. He’s speaking of those who follow the rich and powerful, those who aspire to be like them, approve of them. They’re just as foolish.

Newscaster misses shot (guy approves of it even though he saw her miss the shot)

To the person who makes money, power, prestige, reputation their security in life, their joy in life, their hope in life, the purpose of their life, the true end of such a person is not only physical death, but also a spiritual death.

Verse 14 says that the one whose hope is their riches, power, and prestige that “death is their shepherd.” That their eternal home is Sheol, the Hebrew word for “The realm of the dead.”

Scripture explains death as enemy territory. It shows death as never being satisfied, it always wants more souls. It’s seen as a barren wasteland. It’s a place of no escape.

The realm of the dead, death itself, eternal spiritual death is the final destination of all human beings because of our rejection of, betrayal and rebellion against a Holy God. No man or women can escape under their own power and strength.

This is Romans 6:23.

Romans 6:23

The wages of sin is death.

But praise God for verse 15.

“But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.”

Eternal death is inescapable under our own power and strength. No man can ransom another from its clutches (vs. 7-8).

But God can ransom my soul from its power. And how did he do that? Through Christ, His Son. It was Jesus, God in the flesh who entered into humanity and identified with us in our weakness yet without sin. It was Jesus who went to the cross where he faced death head on. Our great enemy. The great equalizer.

It was Jesus who entered into the realm of the dead, he went to the grave. He died. It was Jesus who entered into place of no escape and kicked down its gates so that through his resurrection we might be redeemed through faith in him.

I love this quote by Matthew Emerson.

“Because of Christ’s atoning death, descent to the place of the dead, and glorious resurrection from the dead, Sheol is no longer the enemy’s bunker. The strong man’s house has been plundered. Because of Christ’s work, Sheol is no longer the exilic wilderness. Israel’s Suffering Servant has walked through this valley of the shadow of death, Sheol, and emerged victorious on the other side, and now he guides all those who are united to him by faith through that same valley, shining the light of his resurrection to guide us.” - Matthew Emerson

The one who trusts in their wealth and power and reputation will die, leave everything behind to another and soon be forgotten just as the names of those mentioned at the beginning have been forgotten but the one who trusts in God will be redeemed by Him, received by Him, adopted as sons and daughters by Him, loved by Him, and raised to eternal life to enjoy fellowship with Him forever and ever. Eternal death will not be their home.

Those who reject God are forever shepherded by eternal death but to those who have turned to Christ in faith will be forever shepherded by the Lord (Ps. 23).

This is the great contrast between those who trust in themselves and those who trust in God who reigns over all, even death itself. It’s why we need not fear when trouble surrounds us.

Conclusion

And so, as we conclude this psalm this morning, the psalmist closes with an appeal to wisdom and understanding. The psalm began with a call to hear wisdom. Now, the final verses are,

A call to respond to wisdom.

Verse 16.

Psalm 49:16–20

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed —and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

Here, I believe is our proper response to wisdom’s call.

Don’t fear man, instead, fear God.

Where does wisdom and understanding begin? How do we understand and walk through difficult realities in life? How do we make sense of the mystery of life, death, and prosperity?

Proverbs 1:5–7

Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Where does wisdom and knowledge begin? How do we respond to this psalm? By taking our eyes off the things of this world, by taking our eyes off of ourselves, by letting go of temporary things which bring no lasting joy and instead placing our eyes on a good and Holy God who has authority over life and death. A good and holy God who loves you. A good and holy God who is able to redeem you and ransom you from the power of death.

A good and holy God who invites you into fellowship with Him where you will find unending joy and satisfaction. Life as it was intended to be lived. Will you let go of temporary things to grab hold of what’s eternal?