483_Living in the light of eternity

Psalm 49:1-13 Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.

10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah

The year was 1923. A group of the world’s most powerful and successful men gathered at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. It included the president of America’s largest steel company, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, a member of the president’s cabinet, and the heads of the biggest oil and utility companies of the time. Collectively, they controlled more wealth than perhaps any other group on the planet. Newspapers hailed them as men who had it made—masters of industry, success, and wealth.

Fast forward a few decades: one died bankrupt, another died in prison, one went insane, and the rest died lonely and broken. These men had built empires but had failed to prepare for the one thing that levels all people—death. They lived for the now, with little thought for eternity.

Psalm 49 is a solemn and timeless call to everyone—rich and poor, powerful and powerless—to live with the end in view. It’s a wisdom psalm that doesn’t simply call us to morality, but to clarity. It is a piercing reminder that life is brief, death is certain, and eternity is forever. The psalmist says, “Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together!” (vv.1–2).

The desire to pursue wealth, fame, or comfort at the cost of eternal values is not just a rich man’s disease. A poor man can be just as materialistic and greedy as the wealthy. Because materialism isn’t about how much we have—it’s about what our hearts long for.

In this wise psalm, the first bit of wisdom is this: Don’t be envious of the rich and powerful. Especially those who trust in their wealth and boast about their great possessions. It’s one thing to be rich—it’s another to find your identity, worth, and security in riches. It’s worse when this wealth isn’t even earned righteously. For you can’t take it with you.

Verse 7 says, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life.” In other words, all the money in the world cannot buy a single soul. Jesus made this clear when He asked, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). The rich can buy influence, comfort, and security in this life—but they cannot bribe death, and they certainly cannot purchase eternal life.

Peter echoes this truth in his first letter: “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.” (1 Peter 1:18-19). The only thing that can ransom our souls is not money—but mercy. Not gold—but grace. Not success—but the sacrifice of Jesus.

The psalm then turns our attention to the one certainty that silences both the boastful and the bitter: death. “For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others.” (v.10).

Jeremiah offers a striking image when he says, “Like the partridge that gathers a brood she did not hatch, so is he who gets riches but not by justice; in the midst of his days they will leave him, and at his end he will be a fool.” (Jeremiah 17:11). What a powerful metaphor! The unjust man holds onto wealth that he cannot keep. In the end, it leaves him.

But death is not just the end of physical life—it is also the beginning of something else. And this is where the psalmist draws a dividing line between those who live only for this world and those who live with eternity in mind. Those who ignore God and chase riches are, he says, “like beasts that perish.” (v.12). They live by instinct, not insight. They were made in the image of God, created for eternity—but they live as though the grave is the final chapter.

But in verse 15, hope enters the picture. “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” Through Christ, God has made a way for our souls to be redeemed and received—not because of our wealth or works, but because of His grace.

This is the turning point in the psalm. While the rich may build mansions and accumulate glory, they cannot escape death. And when they die, their glory doesn’t follow them. “Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away.” (vv.16-17).

The man who lives for today, who finds his worth in wealth, and who ignores eternity, is not blessed—he is deceived. His success is temporary. His fame is fading. His transition to the life beyond is grim and empty. And the psalmist repeats the haunting refrain: “Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” (v.20).

The parable of the rich fool in Luke 12 perfectly illustrates this psalm. A man had an abundant harvest and thought to himself, “I’ll build bigger barns, store up everything I need, and say to myself, ‘Relax, eat, drink, be merry.’” But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?”

The man in the parable made three fatal errors. First, he valued the material over the spiritual, his body’s needs, but not his spirit. He made plans for storage but not for eternity. Second, he focused on the present rather than the eternal. He was living only for today, ignoring the fact that life is a vapor. Third, he wrongly assumed he was in control. But he wasn’t. Death came without warning.

And so the Lord concluded: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

What are we really living for? What dominates our thoughts, our ambitions, our energy? Is it our bank account, our achievements, or our comforts? Or are we living with eternity in view?

Our goals change everything. They change how we spend our time and our money. It changes what we value and what we fear. When we realize that this life is not all there is, we stop chasing shadows and start pursuing substance.

The missionary C.T. Studd once said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” That’s what Psalm 49 is all about. Don’t waste your life on things that won’t matter in a hundred years—or even in ten. Live for what counts forever.

Let us re-evaluate our priorities. Are we living like wise people or fools? Are we investing in eternity or merely squandering our lives on temporary comforts? Are we prepared to give account to the One who alone can ransom our souls?

Let today be our first step into a new direction. Let us choose to live with the end in view. Let us live in the light of eternity. Then our lives will not only count here—but forever in the courts of heaven. God bless.