Foolish or Faithful Confidence
Psalm 49
This life isn't all there is; and it's not even the best part. Trust in God who alone can ransom a soul from death.
#confidence
#faith
#wealth
Published October 1st, 2019
Main point summary
Arc
notes
Main point summary
Wealth isn't everything; it cannot spare you from death and cannot be taken in death. Put your trust in God, who can ransom your soul from death.
Arc
editing
OT
Psalms 49:1-20
esv
nasb
mine
g Hear this, all peoples!
a Hear this, all peoples;
Listen up, everyone!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
Give ear, all b inhabitants of the world,
Every person in the world needs to hear what I am about to say,
h both low and high,
Both a low and high,
that is, the great and small--both the powerful and lowly
rich and poor together!
Rich and poor together.
that is, the rich and the poor.
series
ideaexplanation
My mouth shall speak i wisdom;
My mouth will a speak wisdom,
Here is wisdom for you. (so that you know what to do after I speak)
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
And the meditation of my heart will be b understanding.
that is, what I have been meditating upon and now speak to you will give you understanding.
I will incline my ear to j a proverb;
I will incline my ear to a a proverb;
I will consider a difficult saying
I will solve my k riddle to the music of the lyre.
b I will 1 express my c riddle on the harp.
and then I will explain it in the form of a song.
progression
actionpurpose
l Why should I fear in m times of trouble,
Why should I a fear in days of adversity,
Why should I be afraid in times of trouble?
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
When the iniquity of my 1 foes surrounds me,
When I am surrounded by the iniquity of treacherous enemies,
those who n trust in their wealth
Even those who a trust in their wealth
that is, the persecuting foes who trust in their great wealth,
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
And boast in the abundance of their riches?
and then boast in their great riches?
temporal
Truly no man o can ransom another,
No man can by any means a redeem his brother
Because the truth is that everyone will die. No one can pay the price to redeem another person's life.
or p give to God q the price of his life,
Or give to God a b ransom for him—
or pay to God the price of his own life,
for r the ransom of their life is costly
For a the redemption of 1 his soul is costly,
because the price to redeem a soul/life is too high.
and can never suffice ,
And he should cease trying forever—
and man could never cover the cost
ground
that he should live on forever
That he should a live on eternally,
to obtain eternal life
and s never see the pit.
That he should not 1 b undergo decay.
and never die, and experience the grave and the corruption of his body.
For he sees t that even the wise die ;
For he sees that even a wise men die;
***For even wise men die (their wisdom does not keep death away);
u the fool and the stupid alike must perish
The b stupid and the senseless alike perish
just as the fools and senseless people die.
and v leave their wealth to others.
And c leave their wealth to others.
And they all leave their wealth and riches to other living people.
actionresult
Their w graves are their homes forever, 1
Their 1 a inner thought is that their houses b are forever
Once they've died, they remain in their graves forever--their new homes,
their dwelling places x to all generations,
And their dwelling places to all generations;
that is, they dwell in their grave generation after generation.
though they y called lands by their own names.
They have c called their lands after their own names.
even though they name the lands after themselves.
concessive
Man in his pomp z will not remain ;
But a man in his 1 pomp will not endure;
For all his honor, mankind will not endure--he will perish.
a he is like the beasts that perish.
He is like the 2 beasts that 3 perish.
He will die and decay like any beast of the field.
This is the path of those who have b foolish confidence;
This is the a way of those who are foolish,
This is the path of the ones who have foolish confidence in their riches.
yet after them people approve of their boasts. 1 Selah
And of those after them who b approve their words. 1 Selah.
And yet there are people who approve of their folly and follow after them.
situationresponse
Like sheep
As sheep
They are all like sheep
they are appointed for Sheol;
they are appointed a for 1 Sheol;
they are destined for the grave and corruption.
comparison
death shall be their shepherd,
Death shall be their shepherd;
that is, Death will shepherd them and lead them to the grave,
and the upright c shall rule over them in the morning.
And the b upright shall rule over them in the morning,
and those who are upright/Godly will exercise authority over them.
d Their form shall be consumed e in Sheol,
And their form shall be for 1 Sheol c to consume
Those fools' bodies will be consumed in the grave
with no place to dwell .
2 So that they have no habitation.
and they will have no place to live.
But God will f ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
But God will a redeem my soul from the 1 power of 2 Sheol,
BUT God will redeem my soul from the pit--from the power of the grave,
for he will g receive me. Selah
For b He will receive me. Selah.
because he will receive me to himself.
alternative
Be not afraid
Do not be afraid
So, don't be afraid
when a man becomes rich,
a when a man becomes rich,
when someone (a wicked man) becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases .
When the 1 glory of his house is increased;
that is, when the splendor of his house increases and his possessions multiply in number
h For when he dies
For when he dies
Because when he dies,
he will i carry nothing away;
he will a carry nothing away;
he will take nothing with him (he'll leave everything behind)
his glory will not go down after him.
His 1 glory will not descend after him.
His splendor and glory won't go with him to the grave.
For though , while he lives ,
Though while he lives
And even though in his lifetime
he counts himself j blessed —
he a congratulates 1 himself—
he considers himself blessed (that is he praises himself)
and though you get praise
And though men praise you
and even though other men praise you
when you do well for yourself—
when you do well for yourself—
when you prosper,
his soul will k go to the generation of his fathers,
1 He shall a go to the generation of his fathers;
his soul will go to the grave where his forefathers are,
who will never again l see light.
They will never see b the light.
and he will never again see the light of day.
m Man in his pomp yet without understanding
a Man in his 1 pomp, yet without understanding,
And know that someone who has great honor and glory yet no understanding
is like the beasts that perish .
Is b like the 2 beasts that 3 perish.
will die like a common beast of the field.
inference
Id/Exp or Ac/Mn = the fact that they trust in their wealth is revealed in their outward boasting of their great riches (I don't see this as a simple series) Or Progression: they trust then boast Or Inference: they trust inwardly in their wealth and therefore outwardly brag of their great riches
who is the "he"?
2 possible interpretations here
Listen to me, all people, FOR/BECAUSE I am going to speak (For the purpose of gaining the wisdom and understanding that I am about to communicate)
not an indicator of groups of people but units of time (i.e. ages, years)
v11 is either: NASB presents as Series: with the variant reading "their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever" AND that they call their dwelling places by their own names (all in an attempt to be remembered and "live" forever) ESV presents as CSV: "Their graves are their homes forever..." EVEN THOUGH they called lands by their own names
#1 - b/c he won't live forever
#2 - b/c he'll leave everything behind
ESV presents this as CSV (yet); NASB presents this as Series (and) (others approve of the fools boasts (ESV and NASB) and follow after them (NASB)
8 - ESV presents this as Series (ransom is costly and can't suffice) (NIV agrees) NASB presents this as Inference (redemption is costly therefore he should cease trying) (KJV and HCSB agree)
discourse
Comments
Disclaimer: The opinions and conclusions expressed on this page are those of the author and may or may not accord with the positions of Biblearc or Bethlehem College & Seminary.