Psalm 49
We do not know who wrote this psalm, or even when it was written. We do know that the matter that it addresses is important and worthy of weighing heavily in anyone's decision making process.
It is all too common (in this life) to face questions that are difficult, if not impossible, to answer. One such question is: "Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer?" It is a question addressed throughout scripture. Even Jesus addressed it. Anything in scripture that is repeated is probably pretty important. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you may not read anything new here, but at the least you will receive an important reminder, for wealth can be deceptive, and it is one of the major pitfalls that causes many to deny Christ in this life and to be condemned forever in the next.
This psalm has your name on it. It is addressed to you and it is pertinent for you; and not you alone. It is wisdom that you should not only live by but it is also wisdom you should share - pass on to your children, share with your spouse, friends, coworkers, school-mates and whoever will listen. It is not addressed to Israel, or to the New Testament Church exclusively. It is addressed to all the peoples of the world, both low and high, both rich and poor (verse 1). Somewhere within those boundaries are both you and me.
There is nothing more important in this life than righteousness. There are things that try and assert themselves as being more important (such as riches), but nothing is more important than being "right." Being right with God and being right with your neighbor. When we speak of being "right" we speak of being innocent. To be righteous is to have no fault attached to you. As followers of Christ, we have been clothed with the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness being our only hope to survive the righteous judgment of the Holy God. It is righteousness that allows us entrance to heaven. It is righteousness that gives us communion with God. It is Christ's imputed righteousness that will allow us to stand in the judgment. Riches provide no such benefit.
Let me say at the offset that there is an evil game afoot in this country and perhaps world wide. It is the game of pitting one class of people against another. It is to attempt to make the poor despise the rich and the rich despise the poor. It is the attempt to divide in order to conquer and control. Don't fall for the world's madness or this cheap political trickery. If you are poor your enemy is not the wealthy. If you are rich your enemy is not the poor. There are those who are righteous and those who are wicked. That's the division that matters. Even the people who are wicked are not your enemy. For what is the worst that wicked people can do to you? Take away your possessions? Rob you of things that are temporal? Big deal, you are going to die and lose that stuff anyhow. Your real enemy is your own wickedness. For it is your wickedness that brings God's wrath upon you and it is your wickedness that you will have to one day answer for. Even if you can gain the whole world just one smidgen of wickedness will cause you to lose everything. Righteousness is superior to riches.
How easy it is for us to lose perspective. How easy it is for us to contract a bad case of tunnel vision. That's why we need this psalm, that's why we need this reminder. If the church was to guard it's righteousness as much as it guards it's wallet we would have a world-wide revival.
Now there is nothing wrong with watching your finances closely, that's good stewardship, but there's nothing more important than righteousness. Even if it cost you everything else, pursue righteousness.
After all, what is it that you need? What is it that you most require? What is it that you should pursue now and through the duration of your life? The answer is righteousness. Receive it from Christ, as His gift to you, and guard it without ever growing weary. Guard it above all else. Guard it above all things shiny and sparkly. Guard it above investments and bank accounts. Guard it above lands and fame. Guard it by allowing God to search your heart and reveal to you your deepest motives. Guard it by taking every thought captive. Guard it by controlling your eyes and being the master of all your senses and desires. Not only is this possible, all believers are empowered to do it. Empowered by the One who made you. There is no temptation except that which is common to man. You are equipped to conquer temptation, and conquer you must - if you wish to guard righteousness.
So to answer the perplexing question, "why do the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer?" I don't know - I'm just a preacher, and not the brightest one at that. But what I can tell you is it will go on "only as long as the night persists" It is no longer true in the morning (as the middle of verse 14 states). This is a parable: We live in the night, the sky is dark and the world is upside down, but when the Son appears and the light reveals even those things that are hidden (both things of great worth and things that are worthless), it is the righteous who reign and the wicked that are cast away. Not a dime anyone possess, not property, nor fame, nor family, nor any other created thing can purchase favor with the Righteous Judge. And the Son is due in the sky at anytime.
Allow this Psalm expound on this matter for you. We will do it concisely, so do not allow your mind to wander. You know I'm not afraid to go long, but also not afraid to end early. You don't need to be afraid to listen, and consider this matter for your own benefit.
First point is simply this: Wealth has limited potential. This psalm points out several of it's short-comings.
Wealth can not protect you from death. You shouldn't need a Psalm to explain this to you, nature should have already done that. Verse 10 reads, "All can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike." Verse 12 shows us the powerlessness of wealth to deter the reality of death, "But man, despite his riches, does not endure." Wealth has limited potential. It can not deliver you from the grave. Have you ever heard of someone losing their life in an accident, or due to a sickness, or even dying of natural causes and then people asking, "How could that happen, that person was wealthy?" Of course you haven't. Everyone knows wealth can not protect you from death.
The second thing it shows is that wealth can no longer be controlled after death. Again verse 10 says that they "leave their wealth to others." Verse 17 reads, "he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him." It has not been uncommon in man's history, even among Christians, to be buried with treasures of one sort or another, but what good does it do? Can the dead guard it from thieves? Does it not see decay as their flesh sees decay? There is no control of wealth after death. Even your last will and testament relies on others to enforce it. You lose all control.
The last thing I will mention concerning the limitations of wealth is that at the very moment of death, the so-called "rich one" becomes bankrupt. Nothing is carried beyond the grave. No riches, no high esteem, no lands or treasures or even trinkets remain in their possession. All that was gained is lost. All that was acquired is immediately orphaned - to be adopted by others or consumed by corruption. Naked you have entered, and naked you will depart.
So, wealth can not protect you from death, you have no power over wealth once you die, and when the wicked perish, no matter what worldly possessions or fame they once commanded, they become instantaneously bankrupt and void of all control. Sounds to me like wealth has some significant weaknesses. Despite these obvious flaws that wealth has (and I have named just a few), somehow it is able to deceive mankind into cherishing it. Our psalm (the one addressed to you and me) details the depravity of mankind when it comes to 'giving in' to the draw of riches. I'll name a few areas where wealth can lead man astray:
Mankind trusts in riches. Verse 6 describes in detail the "wicked deceivers" named in verse 5. It says they "trust in their wealth." How foolish is that? What can wealth do for the wicked besides provide a temporary buffer from the everlasting misery that will soon encompass them? Perhaps it can take your mind off the thing that is really important - and that is righteousness. Taking your mind off the need for righteousness is hardly a laudable accomplishment. Trusting in created things is folly, and the end result has been the same for all the generations of man. When will we learn?
Despite the limitations of wealth, man doesn't just trust in wealth, man boasts in wealth. Boasts by displaying it, boasts by indulging in worldly recreation. Feeding that which becomes insatiable. Man boasts by lording their wealth over those who do not possess an equivalent amount. Some are even so blinded by wealth they proclaim that wealth is proof of God's favor. The scripture doesn't teach that and too many saints have died penniless for anyone with any sense to believe this ear-tickling load of dung. It is near sighted to delight in something so menial and temporary or to think God rewards with such petty benefits. Gold is the pavement of heaven, it is trampled by those who will dwell there.
Who cares what you acquire or if you are buried in a fancy casket... you're still buried. On what other occasion do we purchase something so fancy just to discard it? Wrap me in old wet newspapers for all I care, I don't plan on sticking around long enough to enjoy a padded-super-shiny-worm-feeder.
Why would one boast in wealth? It is not evidence of God's approval, nor is it worth anything beyond this temporal prison. But they go beyond boasting - as the psalm describes - they close their eyes to the reality that wealth is only momentary. Verse 14 puts it this way, "their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions." Great houses are nice, but how long do you think you will live there? It is not your home, it is your temporary residence. The wicked's home is described in verse 11, "Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations." I'd say it would be better to work on your 'dwelling for endless generations' than to work on your temporary abode. And that's another reason righteousness is superior to riches. Riches can not purchase you a home in heaven, it won't even get you a time-share or a rental.
Another deception of riches is the idea that money will make your name great forever. I like documentaries, and my wife especially likes history documentaries. We saw one about the great Sphinx in Egypt and the archeologists' quest to discover who built it, and why, and to figure out whose exotic and substantial tombs surround it. Despite all the slave labor and these massive wonders of the ancient world, the dead are still dead and their legacies forgotten. Again in verse 11, "though they had named lands after themselves." Though they amassed property and left a legacy, but how long can that endure. Will it endure when the earth is consumed in a fervent heat? I'd say, "probably not." Wealth has it's limitations.
Despite all this they congratulate themselves on their own greatness. Verse 18 "Though while he lived he counted himself blessed - and men praise you when you prosper - he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of life." How pathetic to boast in riches and delight in wealth, no matter the amount - whether great or small. Especially since the outlook is pretty grim for those who trust in riches and despise righteousness. Like beasts they perish (vs 12). Their forms decay (vs 14) They soon descend to the realm of the departed (vs 14 "destined for the grave").
We know the righteous are lead by the Good Shepherd, but the wicked also have a shepherd. Again in verse 14 "like sheep they are destined for the grave and death will feed on them." Literally, "Death will shepherd them." They will be under death's care, death will lead them and watch over them and keep them and feed them. What a shepherd to have: Death!
Then if that isn't enough, if it isn't enough to lose your pretty homes and your name is forgotten and all the praise you once received is gone. If it isn't enough that you perish and decay and are corralled by death itself forever within it's keep, there remains a great awakening that transpires "in the morning." The very people you looked down upon, who suffered in life while you preyed upon them, will rise up and be given dominion over you: "The upright will rule over them in the morning" (vs 14). So perhaps they enjoyed good things during the night - the lordship was theirs during the night - why? It is because of their riches - and man esteems riches. But in the morning that lordship will be transferred to the upright, not because of their wealth, but because of their righteousness -because God esteems righteousness.
Now what do you wish to pursue? What do you wish to guard? What should you acquire and protect no matter the cost? Pursue Christ and a life well lived in righteousness. You will have no reason to fear in the day of evil, for evil itself has it's days numbered. You will have no reason to fear in death, because God will redeem your life from the grave; he will surely take you to Himself (vs 15). Where the world sees glory and wisdom in acquiring riches, let it be to you as folly and chasing after the wind - if godliness is not also present. Let us pursue godliness, let us pursue Christ the Perfect and let us enjoy His sweet fellowship both now and forever. And before the morning comes and the world is returned to 'right side up,' let us not forget these truths, nor fail to share them with others.
Choose the Good Shepherd, do not be a part of Death's flock. If you are poor - be righteous, if your are rich - be righteous, if you are low or high, or anywhere in between - be righteous, for the Son of God comes, morning is breaking, and it is righteousness that He desires.
Why don't you trade? Why don't you trade right now? Why don't you choose Christ and forsake all else? Why not invest in your home? Not the temporary shack that you can't take with you, but your eternal destination. Better to be poor and righteous than any kind of wicked. If you can be rich and righteous, that's great too, I won't hold it against you, for I know my only enemy is my own sin.
May God help us all to guard ourselves from tunnel vision and the lure of riches (to trust in riches, to boast in riches, and then to find ourselves lacking the only thing that really matters). Choose this day that which is the most important. Recommit, Christian, to choosing Christ above all else. Change your ways you who delight in wickedness! Be right, and be ready.
