They depend upon their wealth, and boast themselves in the abundance of their riches. ...
Psalm 49 calls the whole world to listen, rich and poor alike. Verse 6 names its subject — people who rest their confidence on what they own — and the psalm holds their wealth up against death.
The psalm opens by calling everyone to listen. The speaker claims more than his own opinion.
The call goes out to everyone living in this passing, fleeting world, whatever their social position, rich or poor. They are to hear the wisdom of one who speaks with understanding, or 'discernment.' The psalmist speaks as a man who has listened to the voice of God. So he can explain the riddle of life with all the certainty of inspiration.
That riddle begins in verse 6, with the man who trusts his money.
Verse 6 answers a fear raised in verse 5. It describes the people who look strongest, so that the believer stops fearing them.
A believer may well ask, "Why should I fear in times of trouble?"... He does not trust in himself, but in the living God. Those who are rich and have plenty of goods may seem secure, but the child of God is far more secure than they are. They may boast in the abundance of their riches, but what sort of riches are they? All the wealth they have is useless for redeeming one precious soul.
The verse names two things done with money: leaning on it and boasting about it. Even acts of charity can be pulled into the boast.
The love of money will turn men into boasters. We read in Scripture of those who "trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches" (Psalm 49:6)... Men do not only boast in their skill at getting wealth. Once they have piled up riches, they often make a display of their acts of charity as well. This is the opposite of the lowly grace of Christianity, which teaches us to give in such a way that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.
The psalm names the rich man here only to show, in the verses that follow, what his money cannot reach.
Suppose all the wealth had been collected together — the gems, the costly stones, all the diamonds of Africa and Brazil. All these riches would have been as dust before God... God alone could provide the ransom. He gave it in the gift of His Son, and the ransom was paid by the blood shed on the Cross.
What money could not buy, God gave.
The psalm does not argue against wealth in theory. It lets death show what wealth is worth.
No one can avoid seeing that one thing is common to all — the wise, the foolish and the brutish alike. All die, and when they die they leave their wealth to others. They may try to provide for their family line, to keep up their houses, and to keep their name alive. Yet though a man may rise to honour in this life, he does not last. Death spoils the plans of man, and proves that his ways were folly.
The same danger follows money into the church, where some believers are rich.
Wealth tends to make a man proud. It turns the owner from trusting God to trusting his money. The worldly rich man thinks a great deal of himself and feels safe from the ordinary troubles and struggles that other people face. The wealthy Christian must not imagine that his money entitles him to dominate the church of God and lord it over his fellow believers.
- Trust misplaced — Verse 6 describes people who rest their security on wealth. The psalm shows the believer why he need not fear them.
- Trust tested — Money cannot redeem one soul. Every diamond on earth is dust before God.
- Trust exposed — Death empties the hands of the wise, the foolish and the brutish alike. Their wealth goes to someone else.
- Trust transferred — What money could not buy, God gave. He provided the ransom in His Son, at the cost of blood shed on the Cross.
- Trust guarded — The warning follows the believer into wealth. Money must never replace trust in God, or become a claim to rule others.
None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him,
Psalm 49 speaks to rich and poor alike about money and death, and verse 7 sets the limit: no one can buy a life back from death. Commentators read it as the end of every human rescue, and as the doorway to the only rescue that works.
The verse answers a question the psalmist asked two verses earlier: why should he fear in an evil day?
The psalmist opens his warning with a word of encouragement for the godly man who lives in an evil day, surrounded by people who try to trip him up. Why should such a man fear? What follows answers that question: it exposes how empty the lives of those who trust in their riches really are. For the one who trusts in God there is no fear.
The word behind "ransom" means a covering. It ties this verse to atonement, and to the price God Himself found.
In the Old Testament, except in Exodus 21:30, the word is kopher. It literally means "a covering," and it is related to kaphar, often translated "atonement." "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life" (Psalm 49:7). But God could say, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom" (Job 33:24). In the New Testament the word is lutron, or antilutron, from "to loose, set free." Christ gave Himself, His life, a ransom for many. His precious blood witnesses that every claim of God against the believer has been answered (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6).
No sum is large enough. Stack every treasure on earth, and it still buys nothing here.
Gather all the wealth, the gems and costly stones, all the diamonds of Africa and Brazil — all these riches would be as dust before God… Only God could provide the ransom.
In the book of Ruth, the relative with the first claim to buy back a family's land had to say, "I cannot." One writer hears the same note here.
He did not mean that none of them would redeem his brother if they were able to. He meant that the task was impossible. Many of us, like Naomi's nearer relative, would gladly redeem our own family if we could. But like him, we have to admit, "I cannot."
Sincerity is not the same as ability. One commentator sets this verse beside Moses, who once hoped he could make atonement for Israel's sin.
Moses did propose to settle the matter. He told Israel they had sinned a great sin, and said he would go up to the Lord — perhaps he could make atonement for their sin. But no effort by a creature was any use. "Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life" (Psalm 49:7). The Lord Jesus did not go up to God until He had come down and given His life a ransom for many. So He could go up with no "perhaps" on His lips. He went in the full awareness of the undeniable claim He had established by His finished work.
If no one can redeem a brother, no one can believe for you either.
Each must have it for himself. No man can believe, or get life for another. Each must have to do with God for himself. The link which connects the soul with Christ is intensely individual. There is no such thing as secondhand faith. A man may teach us religion, or theology, or the bare text of Scripture. But he cannot give us oil. He cannot give us faith. He cannot give us life. "It is the gift of God."
- The price — "Ransom" means a covering, the same root as atonement. The verse asks what it costs to cover a life before God.
- The payer — Not the rich man. All the gems and diamonds on earth are dust before God.
- The inability — Like the relative in Ruth, no one here refuses; no one is able. Even Moses, hoping to make atonement for Israel, could not do it.
- The found ransom — What no brother could give, God provided: "I have found a ransom," and Christ gave His life a ransom for many.
- The claim — Each person must take the ransom for himself. There is no secondhand faith, and each one must deal with God himself.
(For the redemption of their soul is costly, and must be given up for ever,)
Psalm 49 calls the whole world to listen, rich and poor alike. This verse gives the reason no amount of money can buy a brother out of death. The price of a soul runs too high. So who can pay it, and does the psalm leave any hope?
The verse turns on two ideas: what a soul is worth, and giving up the attempt to pay for it. One reference work follows the subject as it rises to the soul itself, then explains each phrase:
From there the subject rises to the redemption of the soul or life, forfeited because of sin. Man cannot give God a ransom for his brother. The redemption of the soul is precious, or costly. And redemption itself ceases, or must be given up, for ever. That is, every thought of trying to give a ransom must be dropped. It costs too much.
Commentators differ on how to translate the closing phrase. One reads it not as something stopping, but as something set apart:
Only the great sacrifice of the Lord Jesus could accomplish such a redemption — a cost far beyond what anyone else could pay. The right translation of the last phrase is not "it shall cease forever," but "it must be let alone forever." Such a redemption must be left forever in its own dignity — standing alone as the only means of redemption.
Set beside the price of one soul, the whole treasure of the earth counts as nothing:
Gather up all the wealth, the gems, and the costly stones, all the diamonds of Africa and Brazil — and all these riches would be as dust before God. For "those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches — none of them can in any way redeem his brother, or give God a ransom for him. For the redemption of their soul is costly, and it ceases for ever."
The price is beyond every human hand, so the matter turns personal:
Each must have it for himself. No man can believe, or get life for another. Each must have to do with God for himself. The link which connects the soul with Christ is intensely individual. There is no such thing as secondhand faith. A man may teach us religion, theology, or the letter of Scripture. But he cannot give us oil. He cannot give us faith. He cannot give us life.
One man did offer to settle the matter for a whole nation. The contrast with Christ is exact:
Moses did propose to make such a settlement: "You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to the Lord; perhaps I can make atonement for your sin." But no creature effort was of any use. "None can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." The Lord Jesus did not go up to God until He had come down and given His life as a ransom for many. So He could go up with no "perhaps" on His lips. He went in the full awareness of the undeniable claim He had established by His finished work.
The word for "ransom" points to a covering. What man could never supply, God announced that He had found:
In the Old Testament the word for ransom is kopher, meaning "a covering." It is a related word to kaphar, often translated "atonement." None "can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Ps. 49:7. But God could say, "Deliver him from going down to the pit: I have found a ransom." Job 33:24. … Christ gave Himself, His life, as a ransom for many. His precious blood is the witness: it has answered every claim of God against the believer.
The dead end of this verse is not the psalm's last word:
The psalm shows the vanity of riches, and the end of those who boast in their wealth. It encourages the godly in an evil day to trust in God. He not only redeems from death; afterwards He receives the soul.
(Several of these writers quote an older translation: "the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever.")
- Costly. The older word "precious" means costly. A soul costs more than any brother, friend or fortune can raise.
- Cancelled. The verse closes the case. Every try at buying a soul back must be dropped forever. That leaves one redemption standing alone — the only one there is.
- Personal. Since nobody can pay for another, nobody can believe for another either — there is no secondhand faith.
- Costlier still. All the wealth and gems of the earth are dust before God, and even Moses' offer to make atonement came to nothing.
- Covered. What man gave up, God supplied: "I have found a ransom." Christ gave His life as that ransom. God redeems the soul from death and then receives it to Himself.
That he should still live perpetually, [and] not see corruption.
Psalm 49 exposes the folly of trusting in riches. Verse 9 names the prize that money is reaching for: endless life, out of the grave's reach.
The verse sits inside the psalm's verdict on riches:
The psalmist goes on to show the folly of trusting in wealth and boasting in riches. With all his wealth, a man cannot redeem his brother from death or secure blessing from God. The redemption of the soul is costly, beyond the wealth of the world; God alone can redeem from death.
Redemption is not just expensive. It is a price man must stop trying to pay:
This term means "being set free, brought back."… From there the subject rises to the redemption of the soul or life, forfeited because of sin. Man cannot give God a ransom for his brother. The redemption of the soul is precious, or costly. And it — that is, redemption — ceases, or must be given up, forever. Man must drop every thought of trying to give a ransom. It is too costly.
Another writer names the reason death rules, then pictures a man trying to buy his way out:
God in His holy government has ordained this for one reason only — sin. Let any one of these throw his shield around his brother. Let him give God a ransom for him, so that he may keep that precious life going. Plainly he cannot; it is too costly: he must let that alone forever. He sees and knows for himself — everyone does. When it comes to wise men and fools alike, death knows no difference and makes no exception.
In Israel's history, silver and gold pictured the price of redemption:
Silver was used as a picture of the price of redemption in days of old (Ex. 30:11-16), and on one occasion gold was given in the place of silver (Num. 31:48-54). These were the two most precious metals. They therefore stood for this: the redemption of the soul is precious — that is, beyond price… For this reason Peter contrasts the picture of redemption by silver and gold with the precious blood of Christ. How precious that blood must be! It secured redemption for all believers, and its worth goes past every limited estimate. God only could provide such a ransom, for He only knew what was needed to deliver His people.
No one can secure this life for someone else:
But notice, it is an individual thing. Each must have it for himself. No man can believe, or get life, for another. Each must have to do with God for himself. The link that connects the soul with Christ is intensely individual. There is no such thing as second-hand faith. A man may teach us religion, or theology, or the letter of Scripture; but he cannot give us faith; he cannot give us life. "It is the gift of God."
Commentators read verse 9's fulfilment along two lines. One applies it to a coming day on earth:
This refers to believers in Israel who will share in the earthly blessing of the nation in the millennium. They will not die at all. Redemption for believers today does not guarantee that they will not die. But it does guarantee that they will live eternally. They may die, but God will raise them again to live forever.
Another holds both outcomes together, and draws the practical result:
Man establishes his family and keeps his name going, but he is gone: nothing stops the hand of death. Ransom from that is out of man's power… But the power of God, in whom the righteous trust, is above the power of death. He saves the remnant from death. So those who are alive when Christ comes for the church will not die at all; those who are dead will be raised. Such is the confidence of the believer. Death does not alarm him. He trusts in One who is above death, who redeems and frees from its power altogether, or raises the dead.
- Costly — a soul's redemption costs more than all the world's wealth, so man must give up trying to pay it.
- Impossible — no man can buy his brother out of death. Ransom from death lies outside human power.
- Provided — only God could supply such a ransom. He paid it not with silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
- Personal — no one can buy life for another. Each person must receive it from God himself; there is no second-hand faith.
- Permanent — God's power stands above death. Believers either never die or rise to live forever; what money could not buy, God gives.