Psalms 49 Study Notes: Wealth Cannot Buy Life
Attributed to the sons of Korah, this psalm calls all people, wealthy and needy, to hear wisdom about riches and death. No one can pay God the price of another's life, but the psalmist trusts God to rescue him from the grave, so the prosperous need not be feared, since they take nothing along when they die.
General
Why does the psalmist tell the reader not to be afraid when someone becomes rich (49:16-17)?
Answer: Because the rich person takes none of it along at death
The psalmist turns to the reader: there is no need to fear when someone gains riches and his household becomes splendid (49:16). The reason is that at his death he carries nothing with him; his wealth does not go down with him to the grave (49:17). Though people praise him while he prospers, he joins his ancestors in darkness (49:18-19). Job said he came from the womb with nothing and would return with nothing (Job 1:21), and Paul says we arrived in the world empty-handed and can take nothing out of it (1 Timothy 6:7).
- Psalm 49:16-17 (BSB)“Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.”The rich take nothing with them when they die, so they are not to be feared.
- Psalm 49:18-19 (BSB)“Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper— he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.”Praise in life does not prevent the rich man from joining his fathers in death.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””Job confesses that a person leaves this life as empty-handed as he entered it.
- 1 Timothy 6:7 (BSB)“For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.”Paul teaches that nothing can be carried out of the world at death.
Theological
What reason does 49:16-17 give for not being intimidated by the prosperity of the wealthy?
Answer: Because the rich person takes none of it along at death
In 49:16-17 the psalmist applies his riddle directly: the reader need not fear the man whose wealth and household glory increase, because death strips him of all of it, and none of his abundance descends with him. The applause he receives in life (49:18) cannot keep him from joining his fathers, who never again see light (49:19). Job's confession of arriving and departing naked (Job 1:21) and Paul's teaching that nothing is carried out of this world (1 Timothy 6:7) state the same truth.
- Psalm 49:16-17 (BSB)“Do not be afraid when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away; his abundance will not follow him down.”The rich take nothing with them when they die, so they are not to be feared.
- Psalm 49:18-19 (BSB)“Though in his lifetime he blesses his soul—and men praise you when you prosper— he will join the generation of his fathers, who will never see the light of day.”Praise in life does not prevent the rich man from joining his fathers in death.
- Job 1:21 (BSB)“saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.””Job confesses that a person leaves this life as empty-handed as he entered it.
- 1 Timothy 6:7 (BSB)“For we brought nothing into the world, so we cannot carry anything out of it.”Paul teaches that nothing can be carried out of the world at death.
General
In 49:13-14, what picture does the psalm use for the end awaiting the foolish and those who follow them?
Answer: A flock headed for the grave, with death tending them
The psalmist pictures the foolish, and those who approve their sayings, as sheep bound for Sheol, with death itself as the shepherd who leads them (49:13-14). Sheol is the Old Testament name for the realm of the dead, the grave. When morning comes, those who are upright will rule over them, and their bodies waste away in the grave, far from their grand homes (49:14). The picture is a grim reversal of Psalm 23, where the LORD is the shepherd of His people (Psalm 23:1). Hebrews says every person has an appointment with death, and after it judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
- Psalm 49:13-14 (BSB)“This is the fate of the foolish and their followers who endorse their sayings. Selah Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.”The foolish are pictured as sheep led by death to the grave.
- Psalm 23:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”The LORD as shepherd of His people is the opposite of death shepherding the foolish.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Death is appointed to all and followed by judgment, the end the image portrays.
Theological
What image does 49:14 use for the destiny of fools and those who follow them?
Answer: A flock headed for the grave, with death tending them
49:13-14 describes the end of fools and those who approve what they say: they are appointed for Sheol as a flock is, and death shepherds them. When morning comes the upright rule over them, while their form wastes away in Sheol, far removed from their exalted dwelling. The image inverts the confession of Psalm 23, in which the LORD Himself is His people's shepherd (Psalm 23:1), and it stands under the appointment of death followed by judgment (Hebrews 9:27).
- Psalm 49:13-14 (BSB)“This is the fate of the foolish and their followers who endorse their sayings. Selah Like sheep they are destined for Sheol. Death will be their shepherd. The upright will rule them in the morning, and their form will decay in Sheol, far from their lofty abode.”The foolish are pictured as sheep led by death to the grave.
- Psalm 23:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”The LORD as shepherd of His people is the opposite of death shepherding the foolish.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Death is appointed to all and followed by judgment, the end the image portrays.
General
What does the psalmist confidently say God will do for him in 49:15?
Answer: Rescue his life from the grave and receive him to Himself
After saying no human can pay the price of another's life (49:7-9), the psalmist declares that God Himself will do what no one else can: He will buy back the psalmist's life from Sheol, the grave, and receive him (49:15). The psalm uses the language of redemption, meaning buying back or setting free, in both places. It does not spell out everything this means, but it expresses confident hope that death does not have the last word for the one who belongs to God. Psalm 73 voices a similar hope that God will later receive the psalmist in glory (Psalm 73:24). Hosea records God's promise to ransom His people from the grip of the grave (Hosea 13:14), and Paul takes up Hosea's taunt against death when he describes the day the dead are raised imperishable and death is utterly defeated (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
- Psalm 49:15 (BSB)“But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah”The psalmist trusts God to redeem his life from Sheol and receive him.
- Hosea 13:14 (BSB)“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.”God promises to ransom His people from Sheol, the same redemption the psalmist hopes for.
- Psalm 73:24 (BSB)“You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.”Another psalmist hopes that God will later receive him in glory.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (BSB)“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?””Paul echoes Hosea's words about death when describing the resurrection, when death is utterly defeated.
Theological
In 49:15, what does the psalmist trust God to do that no one could do in 49:7-9?
Answer: Rescue his life from the grave and receive him to Himself
49:15 is the turning point of the psalm. What no man can do for his brother (49:7-9), God will do: He will redeem the psalmist's life from Sheol and receive him. The redemption vocabulary deliberately echoes the earlier verses. The psalm states the hope in its own terms without elaborating it, but it voices confident hope that death does not have the final word for the one God takes to Himself. Asaph's hope that God will later receive him in glory (Psalm 73:24) is of a piece with it, and Hosea's promise of ransom from Sheol (Hosea 13:14) is echoed by Paul, who applies Hosea's taunt against death to the resurrection, when death will be utterly defeated (1 Corinthians 15:54-55).
- Psalm 49:15 (BSB)“But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. Selah”The psalmist trusts God to redeem his life from Sheol and receive him.
- Hosea 13:14 (BSB)“I will ransom them from the power of Sheol; I will redeem them from Death. Where, O Death, are your plagues? Where, O Sheol, is your sting? Compassion is hidden from My eyes.”God promises to ransom His people from Sheol, the same redemption the psalmist hopes for.
- Psalm 73:24 (BSB)“You guide me with Your counsel, and later receive me in glory.”Another psalmist hopes that God will later receive him in glory.
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55 (BSB)“When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?””Paul echoes Hosea's words about death when describing the resurrection, when death is utterly defeated.
General
Psalm 49 repeats a refrain in 49:12 and 49:20. What does its final form in 49:20 say makes a rich person like the animals that die?
Answer: Having wealth but lacking understanding
The refrain first says a man cannot last despite his riches; like the animals, he dies (49:12). When it returns at the close, it is sharpened: a wealthy person who lacks understanding resembles the animals that die (49:20). The problem is not money itself but wealth held without the understanding this psalm teaches, which sees that death ends every earthly claim and that only God can redeem a life. Ecclesiastes makes the same comparison between people and animals, which all return to the dust (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20), and Jesus called the rich man a fool because he hoarded treasure for himself and had no riches toward God (Luke 12:20-21).
- Psalm 49:12 (BSB)“But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.”The refrain's first form: wealth cannot make a person endure.
- Psalm 49:20 (BSB)“A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”The refrain's final form adds that the problem is riches without understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 (BSB)“For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.”People, like animals, die and return to dust, the comparison the refrain makes.
- Luke 12:20-21 (BSB)“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.””Jesus names the folly of wealth stored up for oneself without regard for God.
Theological
In the closing form of the refrain (49:20), what makes a person comparable to the animals that die?
Answer: Having wealth but lacking understanding
The refrain of 49:12 states the leveling fact: despite wealth, man does not endure but perishes like the beasts. Its final form in 49:20 adds the decisive qualifier, riches without understanding. The contrast is not simply between rich and poor but between those who grasp the psalm's wisdom about death and redemption and those who do not. Ecclesiastes voices the same comparison of man and beast under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20), and Jesus' parable locates folly in accumulating treasure for oneself while not being rich toward God (Luke 12:20-21).
- Psalm 49:12 (BSB)“But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.”The refrain's first form: wealth cannot make a person endure.
- Psalm 49:20 (BSB)“A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.”The refrain's final form adds that the problem is riches without understanding.
- Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 (BSB)“For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.”People, like animals, die and return to dust, the comparison the refrain makes.
- Luke 12:20-21 (BSB)“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.””Jesus names the folly of wealth stored up for oneself without regard for God.
General
What does 49:7-9 say no one is able to do for another person?
Answer: Pay God the price that would keep him from death
The psalmist says no one can buy back the life of a brother or pay God a ransom for him (49:7). A ransom is a price paid to set someone free. The price of a human life is so high that no payment could ever be enough to let a person live forever and escape the grave (49:8-9). Jesus asked what a person could hand over to buy back his own soul (Mark 8:36-37), and the answer is nothing. That is why the gospel is good news: what no human could pay, Christ paid. He came to lay down His life as the ransom price for many (Mark 10:45), and believers are set free not by silver or gold but by His precious blood (1 Peter 1:18-19).
- Psalm 49:7-9 (BSB)“No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God. For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice, that he should live on forever and not see decay.”No human payment can ransom a life from death.
- Mark 8:36-37 (BSB)“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”Jesus asks what anyone could give in exchange for a soul, the same impossibility the psalm names.
- Mark 10:45 (BSB)“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.””Jesus came to pay the ransom that no human could pay.
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 (BSB)“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.”Believers are redeemed by Christ's blood, not by the silver and gold that could never suffice.
Theological
According to 49:7-9, what is no one able to do for his brother?
Answer: Pay God the price that would keep him from death
49:7-9 states the absolute limit of human ability: no one can redeem a brother or give God the price of his life, because the redemption of a soul is too costly for any payment ever to suffice. No amount of wealth can purchase escape from death. Jesus presses the same point when He asks what a man could offer as the price of his soul (Mark 8:36-37). The psalm thus exposes the need that only Christ meets: the Son of Man gave His life as the ransom for many (Mark 10:45), and the redeemed are bought not with perishable silver or gold but with His precious blood, the blood of a spotless lamb (1 Peter 1:18-19).
- Psalm 49:7-9 (BSB)“No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God. For the redemption of his soul is costly, and never can payment suffice, that he should live on forever and not see decay.”No human payment can ransom a life from death.
- Mark 8:36-37 (BSB)“What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?”Jesus asks what anyone could give in exchange for a soul, the same impossibility the psalm names.
- Mark 10:45 (BSB)“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.””Jesus came to pay the ransom that no human could pay.
- 1 Peter 1:18-19 (BSB)“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.”Believers are redeemed by Christ's blood, not by the silver and gold that could never suffice.
General
Whom does the psalmist call to listen at the opening of Psalm 49 (49:1-2)?
Answer: Everyone on earth, humble and powerful, wealthy and needy
Psalm 49, which the heading assigns to the sons of Korah, opens by calling every nation and every person living on earth to listen, whether humble or powerful, wealthy or needy (49:1-2). The psalm is wisdom teaching, like the instruction found in Proverbs, and the psalmist says he will speak wisdom and set out a riddle to the music of the harp (49:3-4). Its lesson about wealth and death is addressed to everyone because it applies to everyone. Hebrews says every person has an appointment with death followed by judgment (Hebrews 9:27), and Jesus warned a crowd that a person's life is not measured by how much he owns (Luke 12:15).
- Psalm 49:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor alike.”The psalm summons every people and every social class to hear its teaching.
- Psalm 49:3-4 (BSB)“My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:”The psalmist presents what follows as wisdom and a riddle set to music.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Death and judgment are appointed for every person, so the lesson is for all.
- Luke 12:15 (BSB)“And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””Jesus warns everyone that life is not measured by what a person owns.
Theological
What audience does the wisdom teaching of Psalm 49 address in 49:1-2?
Answer: Everyone on earth, humble and powerful, wealthy and needy
The psalm opens with a universal summons: all peoples and all the world's inhabitants, humble and powerful, wealthy and needy together (49:1-2). The speaker presents himself as a wisdom teacher who will voice understanding and pose a riddle to the music of the harp (49:3-4). The breadth of the audience fits the subject, since mortality levels every class of person. Hebrews grounds the same universality in the divine appointment of death and judgment (Hebrews 9:27), and Jesus applies the lesson to greed, since a person's life is not made up of what he owns (Luke 12:15).
- Psalm 49:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor alike.”The psalm summons every people and every social class to hear its teaching.
- Psalm 49:3-4 (BSB)“My mouth will impart wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will bring understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle with the harp:”The psalmist presents what follows as wisdom and a riddle set to music.
- Hebrews 9:27 (BSB)“Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,”Death and judgment are appointed for every person, so the lesson is for all.
- Luke 12:15 (BSB)“And He said to them, “Watch out! Guard yourselves against every form of greed, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.””Jesus warns everyone that life is not measured by what a person owns.
General
In 49:5-6, what question does the psalmist raise about the wicked who surround him?
Answer: Why he should be afraid of them, since they rely on riches
The riddle the psalmist sets out is a question: why should he be afraid in hard days when wicked people who grab what is not theirs close in around him (49:5)? These enemies put their confidence in their possessions and brag about how much they own (49:6). The rest of the psalm answers the question. Wealth cannot buy off death, so those who lean on it have nothing that lasts, and the one who trusts God has no reason to fear them. Paul tells Timothy to instruct the rich to hope in God rather than in uncertain riches (1 Timothy 6:17), and Proverbs says riches are worthless when God's judgment comes (Proverbs 11:4).
- Psalm 49:5-6 (BSB)“Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.”The psalmist asks why he should fear enemies whose confidence is in their wealth.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (BSB)“Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.”Paul directs hope away from uncertain wealth and toward God, as the psalm does.
- Proverbs 11:4 (BSB)“Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.”Riches cannot protect anyone on the day God judges, which is why the wealthy are not to be feared.
Theological
What riddle does the psalmist pose in 49:5-6 concerning his wicked opponents?
Answer: Why he should be afraid of them, since they rely on riches
The riddle of 49:5-6 is why the psalmist should fear in troubled days when rapacious, wicked men surround him, men whose confidence rests in wealth and whose boast is their abundance. The psalm's answer unfolds from 49:7 onward: riches cannot ransom a life from death, so the security of the wealthy is illusory and the godly need not be intimidated by it. Paul likewise directs the rich away from wealth that cannot be counted on and toward God (1 Timothy 6:17), and Proverbs sets riches against righteousness when God's wrath arrives (Proverbs 11:4).
- Psalm 49:5-6 (BSB)“Why should I fear in times of trouble, when wicked usurpers surround me? They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.”The psalmist asks why he should fear enemies whose confidence is in their wealth.
- 1 Timothy 6:17 (BSB)“Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be conceited and not to put their hope in the uncertainty of wealth, but in God, who richly provides all things for us to enjoy.”Paul directs hope away from uncertain wealth and toward God, as the psalm does.
- Proverbs 11:4 (BSB)“Riches are worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness brings deliverance from death.”Riches cannot protect anyone on the day God judges, which is why the wealthy are not to be feared.
General
True or False: According to 49:10, only foolish people die and must give up their riches, while wise people escape that fate.
Answer: False
This is false. The psalmist says it is plain to see that wise people die too, just as the foolish and senseless perish, and all of them leave what they own to others (49:10). Even those who named their lands after themselves end up with the grave as their lasting home (49:11). Death comes to everyone, however wise or wealthy. The Teacher of Ecclesiastes grieved that he had to leave all his work to someone who might be a fool (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19), and Jesus told of a rich man whom God called a fool because his life was demanded that very night, leaving his possessions to others (Luke 12:20-21).
- Psalm 49:10-11 (BSB)“For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.”Wise and foolish alike die and leave their wealth behind.
- Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 (BSB)“I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.”The Teacher grieves that his labor must pass to whoever comes after him.
- Luke 12:20-21 (BSB)“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.””The rich fool dies suddenly, and his stored-up goods pass to others.
Theological
True or False: In 49:10, death and the loss of wealth are said to fall on the foolish but not on the wise.
Answer: False
This is false. 49:10 explicitly includes the wise: they die, as do the fool and the senseless, and all alike hand their riches over to others. The graves become their permanent dwellings, despite their having named estates after themselves (49:11). Wisdom does not exempt anyone from mortality. Ecclesiastes laments the same transfer of a lifetime's labor to an unknown heir (Ecclesiastes 2:18-19), and Jesus' parable of the rich fool ends by asking who will end up with the goods he gathered (Luke 12:20-21).
- Psalm 49:10-11 (BSB)“For it is clear that wise men die, and the foolish and the senseless both perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their eternal homes—their dwellings for endless generations—even though their lands were their namesakes.”Wise and foolish alike die and leave their wealth behind.
- Ecclesiastes 2:18-19 (BSB)“I hated all for which I had toiled under the sun, because I must leave it to the man who comes after me. And who knows whether that man will be wise or foolish? Yet he will take over all the labor at which I have worked skillfully under the sun. This too is futile.”The Teacher grieves that his labor must pass to whoever comes after him.
- Luke 12:20-21 (BSB)“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be required of you. Then who will own what you have accumulated?’ This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.””The rich fool dies suddenly, and his stored-up goods pass to others.