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Psalms 49
1Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
2both low and high, rich and poor together.
3My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart will utter understanding.
4I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle on the harp.
5Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches—
7none of them can by any means his brother, nor give God a ransom for him.
8For the of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough,
9that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption.
10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves.
12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish.
13This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.
14They are appointed as a for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion.
15But God will my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.
16Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
17for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him.
18Though while he lived he blessed his soul— and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light.
20A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish.
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.