A manual of the book of Psalms · Martin Luther
PSALM XLIX.
_An earnest persuasion to build the faith of resurrection, not on worldly power, but on God.—Worldly prosperity is not to be admired._ To the chief Musician. A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all _ye_ people; give ear, all _ye_ inhabitants of the world. Both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart _shall be_ of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the harp. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, _when_ the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches. None _of them_ can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. (For the redemption of their soul _is_ precious, and it ceaseth for ever.) That he should still live for ever, _and_ not see corruption. For he seeth _that_ wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought _is_, _that_ their houses _shall continue_ for ever, _and_ their dwelling-places to all generations: they call _their_ lands after their own names. Nevertheless, man _being_ in honour, abideth not: he is like the beasts _that_ perish.
This their way _is_ their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning: and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave; for he shall receive me. Selah. Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased. For, when he dieth, he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. Though, while he lived, he blessed his soul: (and men will praise thee when thou doest well to thyself.) He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man _that is_ in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts _that_ perish. This is a Psalm that instructs us unto faith, and teaches us to trust in God against that great god of this world, who is called Mammon. David here gives a long and striking introduction to the Psalm, that he may excite and wholly arrest our attention. He here sharply rebukes all who trust in the riches and wealth of this world; concerning whom Christ also severely says, “Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation.” Luke vi. 24.
“The love of money, (saith Paul,) is the root of all evil;” and yet the whole world leave the true God and worship this idol; and are actuated more and more with the furious desire of getting wealth. All men, from the least to the greatest, except those that fear God, are in pursuit of money. Hence it is, that all the prophets exclaim, “For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness,” Jeremiah vi. 13. And hence also have arisen all those proverbs and trite sayings of the poets among the Greeks and Latins. ‘All things give way to money,’—‘money is the first thing to be sought after; virtue is a secondary consideration.’ But all such admirers of, and slaves to riches are pointed at and exposed in this Psalm; as are also all those who trust in their wealth, nothing of which they can take with them when they die. And here also true faith is highly extolled; by which we trust in God, who can deliver us from death, and give us eternal life and salvation. And death is the time when not only gold, but all creatures put together, cannot save and deliver a man!
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.