Misplaced Trust in Wealth

INTRO

Psalm 49 is a wisdom psalm. The sons of Korah wrote it for the choir director for the people to sing. According to Nelson’s Commentary, Psalm 49 is one of instruction set to music. The psalm “calls for the wise person to realize that there is nothing to fear from the oppressive rich: like animals, they too will die. But the righteous will live forever.”¹ The title for Psalm 49 is “Misplaced Trust in Wealth.”

The authors were the sons of Korah. Their background is interesting. God told Moses and Aaron to take a census of the Kohathite men between the ages of 30 and 50 years old (Numbers 4:1–5). Aaron and his sons had the responsibility to take care of the most holy objects. These items included: the ark, the table of God’s presence, the bowls and pitchers used in the drink offering, the lampstand and the lamps from the tabernacle, and the gold altar (Numbers 4:7–20). Whenever the camp moved, these also had to be packed up and moved. Then the Kohathites would transport the objects, but they could not touch these items themselves or even look at them or they would die (Numbers 4:15, 20). God also told Moses and Aaron to take care of the Kohathite clans so they would not be wiped out by the Levites because the Kohathites had an important function to fulfill (Numbers 4:17–20).

In Numbers 16, Korah and other prominent Israelite men rebelled against Moses and Aaron and told them all the Israelites were holy. They questioned why Moses and Aaron exalted themselves above the Israelite community (vv. 1–3). This was jealousy on their part because they had been carrying these holy things their entire lives but could not touch them, but Moses and Aaron could. Moses responded by saying he did what God called him to do. He said if these who rebelled lived and died like everyone else, there would be no proof he did what God wanted him to do. However, if God did something unprecedented, and the ground opened and swallowed them all, along with everything they had, the people of Israel would know God was in charge. (vv. 28–30). The ground immediately opened just as Moses had described and swallowed all of

Korah’s people and all of their possession into Sheol, and then closed back over them (vv. 31–35). While it looks like they were all swallowed up, the census in Numbers 26 showed a small group of Korah’s people did not die (vv. 9–11).

TEACHING

Psalm 49:1-4: Nelson’s Commentary explains verses 1–4 as “a call for understanding” that goes out to all people universally.² The Hebrew word for “world” (v. 1), means “the total human scene, the whole sphere of passing life.”³ The phrase “riddle” or “dark saying” means “enigma” and “refers to a perplexing moral problem: how do the righteous come to terms with oppressive rich people who seem to have no thought for God?”⁴ The psalmists said they would explain this dilemma using a musical instrument.

Psalm 49:5–9:The psalmist acknowledged the sins of his foes but said he had no fear for them. They put their trust in their personal wealth but did not have enough money to redeem themselves before God. The word “pit” (v. 9) referred to “the power of death in its dark aspect.”⁵ Only God can deliver anyone from the power of death. Wiersbe explains that it is not a sin to

be wealthy “if we acknowledge God as the Giver and use what He gives to help others and glorify His name.”⁶ (Mark 10:24–25; Luke 16:15.)

Psalm 49:10–12:The wealthy without God would die and others would receive their wealth. All they had to show for their lives was their eternal resting place—their graves. Humankind, like animals, will die. Having wealth will not prevent that from happening.

Psalm 49:13–15:Those who followed this path were arrogant, and they were headed for Sheol. But God has the power to redeem the wealthy and the poor from the power of Sheol. This points to the redemptive work of “the Lord [who] has already ransomed us from sin and the power of the grave.”⁷

Psalm 49:16–20:Therefore, they were not to be afraid of those who had wealth, who would take nothing with him when he died, and would never again see the light of day. But, “A man with valuable possessions but without understanding is like the animals that perish” (v. 20).

CLOSING

Having the background of the sons of Korah brings this passage to life. You have to wonder if the words of Psalm 49 came from the family experiences outlined in Numbers. The wisdom of this psalm seems to have deep roots in what happened to the people of Korah who wanted what others had and missed the important role they already had. These lyrics came from someone who had learned what was real and what was important.