Rescued from the Grave - Psalm 49 (Psalms 49)

2:30More money than anything else to keep us out of that grave. I read a report recently in the U.S. that there have been 11 million, count it, with an M, 11 million acres set aside just for organic food, growing for organic food. That's a lot of acres. That was in 2011. It's estimated that in the United States alone, the organic food industry has generated $42 billion. That's a B. The year 2014. We want to eat healthy, so let's have better food. That's a good thing. We want to stay healthy. We want to stay out of the grave. It's estimated that, well, on the average, I should say, does anybody know the average price for a gallon of organic milk? Somebody knows. Six bucks on the average. Because we want to take care of ourselves, so we should drink organic milk. It's a good thing. As of 2012, citizens spent $50 billion annually to deliver food assistance to one out of every five fellow Americans. We're saving lives. That's a good thing.

3:43We should be saving lives. The Global Health Club and Fitness Industry has generated more than, this is a B, not an M, $75 billion on keeping us fit. Some of us. I looked in the mirror at home. I was not in this number. The pharmaceutical industry, they rake in a lot of money to keep us out of that six feet under thing, don't they? Here's what they bring in. This is with a T. $1 trillion the pharmaceutical industry brings in to take care of our bodies. This is a good thing. But what is the reality of these statistics? Why is this important for Psalm 49? Why do we even care about these statistics? Well, Those of us who purchase expensive organic foods and those of us who do not, guess what? Whether you drink $6 a gallon for milk or like I do, whatever, I drink non-fat, so it's cheaper. I don't know what that is. It's like water. So, you know, I don't know, two bucks, $250, something like that. So I'll probably die a little sooner, but we're all going to end up in the grave. Those of us who benefit from expensive, life-saving drugs, and those of us who don't, I spent $100 on some drugs this week to keep Debbie from in so much pain. If we didn't spend money on that, we're all going to the grave, even if we spend money on pharmaceuticals or we don't spend money on pharmaceuticals.

5:15We can buy organics or we cannot, but we're all facing death. And the psalmist tells us that here. Is this a message of don't spend money on organics or don't use pharmaceuticals? Not at all. Go eat healthy. But we all end up in the same place. The psalmist answers the question: what does the Bible say about death? Does it really talk about this much? We're going to look at a small sliver of what the Bible says about death this morning because it's a topic that's covered all over the place. But what do the sons of Korah, the authors of this psalm, have to say about death?

5:54Here it is: like a shepherd guiding his sheep the long. Arm of a shepherd known as the shepherd of death will take us all to the grave, to our very last breath. We ask the question: Is fearing death really necessary? Do we really have to be concerned about this whole time? Do we have to be afraid? Moving from California years ago to the South Memphis area, before I came out, there was these bumper stickers in California. He said, I'm not afraid. Good English. You moved to Memphis and it said, ain't skered.

6:35The psalmist ain't scared of death this morning, and neither should we. Is the fear of death really necessary? God reveals his sovereignty over death's grip so that you can be certain about something. You can be certain about your eternal future with him, or you can be certain of your eternal destiny separated from him. In which case, yes, without salvation in Christ, the fear of death should keep you awake every night. That's what the psalmist is saying here. Should I be afraid of it or should I not? Well, if you're amongst those who are his enemies that are identified in the list, you should be very concerned about death. The sons of Korah wrote Psalm 49, and they want us to see how they faced death. What did they do? What makes them so special? Well, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God Himself, they wrote this Psalm.

7:30For the believer, Psalm 49 is a message of eternal hope, isn't it? Isn't that what the whole Bible is about? It's a message of eternal hope, but the psalmist here really nails it. He's talking about a topic nobody likes to talk about. So believers shouldn't fear death because it's a message of eternal hope. Conversely, for those who are preferring a life separate from God, this is not a message of hope. This is a message of sheer terror.

8:00That's the way the sons of Korah present this text. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the sons of Korah, as I said, penned Psalm 49. And their collective message reaches our collective hearts, and they instruct us, they give us instructions, and they give us two bone-chilling warnings. Two of them, count them, two of them. Here they are. First warning. Here's the first warning. People are incapable of redeeming themselves, but they are able certainly to perish themselves. That's the language in this text. People are incapable of redeeming or purchasing their own soul, but they are capable of perishing themselves. That's the first warning. Here's the second warning: God is the only one with the ability to take those who are perishing themselves and redeem him or her to himself for his glory. I'll say. Again, second warning. God is the only one with the ability to take those who are perishing themselves and redeem them for his glory.

9:09Well, after pouring through Psalm 49 this week, I was struck. I was struck and I said, Lord, what is it that you want to teach me? Because what it is you would want to teach me through this passage is the same thing you taught the people who read it for the first time and the same thing that you would want the congregation of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Bryan, Texas to hear. Here's what the Holy Spirit wants us to understand from this text: Since God is sovereign, since God is sovereign, believers must understand that He prevents them from destroying themselves. God alone has the power to rescue repentant sinners from the grave.

9:51Whether they drink $6 gallon milk or not, there are three things to understand about death and the sovereignty of God. Three things. You can see it in the text. Verses one through four tells us about how the psalmist commands your understanding through a proverb and through a riddle, believe it or not. Verse 1, the psalmist commands your understanding through a proverb and a riddle. Number 2, the psalmist commands or excuse me, commends your understanding concerning life and death, and we see that in verses 5 through 14. And thirdly, the psalmist cautions you concerning the The high price of redemption. Now, if you didn't get all those down, we're going to visit each one of those again separately and drill into each one of them. In fact, that really brings us to the first one about what we need to understand, about what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us here. First one, the psalmist commands your understanding with a proverb and with a riddle. We get that out of verses one through four. But we have to ask the question: who is the audience of this proverb? You see, the Bible, its books, identify usually pretty clearly who the audience is throughout Scripture, who the intended readers are. These intended readers would have been perhaps 3,000 years ago. You know, the book of Luke was written to Theophilus. It's pretty clear. The book of Ephesians was written to those who are faithful saints. The book of Philemon was written to a slave, or written about a slave, named Philemon.

11:23Some texts are specifically written to simply Jewish people. Some texts are written to just Gentiles. And some texts are written to both. But just a glance at verses one through three, what does it tell us here about the audience? Who's the ones that should be listening here to the sons of Korah and this psalm? Glance down at the text. It's pretty clear. He says, all people. In fact, all inhabitants of the earth, literally from the Hebrew, it's everyone with life.

11:54Listen to these words. The words hear this. Look at it there. It's there. The words hear this and give ear, it would be good for us to understand that those are commands, those are imperatives. He commands us to hear and he commands us to give ear. This psalm is written to all who have life in the world. It's a message that is still alive and well for us today. It's active for us today. And we say, well, how do we know it's for us? Well, because we're in the world, and if you were to check your pulse, it would probably be beating right now. Somebody's asleep next to you. Check their pulse, make sure they're okay. But this message is for us because we're in the world and we're alive. The sons of Korah, as ambassadors of the Holy Spirit, wrote this text for us because we're living. And they're commanding us to literally lean in and listen up. Lean in and listen up. He gives that command for himself. I leaned in to what the Holy Spirit would say, and I listened to the command. And he's asking us to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying here. The sons of Korah were ambassadors of the Holy Spirit.

13:01Charles Spurgeon is one of my favorite authors, perhaps yours too. And he introduces Psalm 49 with these words. Notice what he has to say here. He says, The low will be encouraged, the high will be warned. Our preaching ought to have a voice for all classes. Rich and poor must soon meet together in the grave. That's a chilling thought. Rich and poor, whether you're high or low, you're going to meet together in the grave. So he says this, and it may well be content that we meet together now.

13:36Let's talk about this. We ain't scared. Look again at verse 3. The psalmist says he's going to speak wisdom. Wisdom in this case means skill. It means cleverness. Skill or cleverness. You could say it means great skill at biblical living. That's what the psalmist wants us to know. Wisdom. He's saying, listen to this wisdom. It will give you great skill at biblical living. In verse 3, we also see the psalmist has done his homework. He's worked very diligently under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He wants to teach us what the Holy Spirit was instructing him and Erigo, us, about death. And do you see it in verse 3? It's right there in the text. It's not hard to find. He says, I'm going to do something. I'm going to give you understanding.

14:27I'm going to give you understanding. These are teachings from the Holy Spirit without which verse 12 will get there. Man in his pomp will not endure. And verse 20, man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like an animal, like a beast in the field. They're all going to perish. So I want you to discover with me the creativity that we find in verse 4. This is very creative writing. Check this out as I read it. Verse 4 in chapter 49 of the book of Psalms. He says this, I'll incline my ear. Can you just picture him leaning his ear toward the Holy Spirit? I'll incline mine ear to a proverb. I will express my riddle on a harp. He's going to talk about death here. That's not an easy topic to sit around the dinner table and have a lively conversation about. He's going to do it through a riddle and a proverb, and he's going to have a harp in the background. Anyone care to step up and do the harp in the back? No?

15:30That would be helpful. A riddle is designed to take something difficult to understand and do what? Take something difficult to understand and make it more difficult to understand. I've got some examples for you here. Make it more difficult to understand. Let me clarify it. And then make it easier to understand. Examples. I might have to repeat these a couple of times. I mean, I had to read it three or four times before I got it. Maybe you'll get it the first try. Okay, here's a riddle: What gets wet or wetter? What gets wet? Let me try this again. What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?

16:07It's a riddle. A towel, right? You've got water, you put the dry towel on it, it gets wetter and wetter the more it dries. Okay, here's another one. Focus on the word I. I. It comes up a few times, okay? I can run, but not walk. Wherever I go, thought follows close behind. What am I? A nose. A nose doesn't walk, it runs. And close behind it is your brain. Should I try it again? Okay. It took me five times. I can run but not walk. Wherever I go, the thought follows close behind. What am I? I am a nose.

16:52Okay. One more, I promise, just one more. Well, two more because we're going to get into the riddle in the text. Okay, so focus on the word it. Okay? The man who invented it doesn't want it. The man who bought it, he doesn't need it. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it? A casket? Give that man a harp. It's a coffin. It's a casket, right? I'll read it again. The man who invented it doesn't want it for sure. The man who bought it doesn't need it because he's still alive. The man who needs it doesn't know it. What is it? It's a coffin.

17:41Notice that a riddle brings us to the second thing that we need to understand about death and the sovereignty of God. Here's the riddle. And it's the second thing. The psalmist, he commends your understanding concerning life and death. We get this out of verses 5 through 14. So do you see the riddle in chapter 49 of Psalm 3? Verses 5 and 6. Let me just read the riddle. He doesn't want to talk about death forthright, so here he goes. Why should I fear in the days of adversity when the iniquity of my foes surround me? Even those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches? Well, he's going to answer this riddle, but we're going to have to hang tight for a little while because we're going to have to make our way down to the answer. He says, Why should I fear in the days of adversity? Literally, why should I fear in the evil days?

18:36You could say, why should I fear in the wicked days? I would say we're pretty comfortable here in the United States. If we were to hop on a plane and go to places where people aren't so comfortable and there's a lot of death and mayhem going on, we would probably be asking the question, why should I fear about death? Maybe you wouldn't ask the question. You'd just be fearing. This is what's going on in the psalmist's life. Literally, there are enemies surrounding around him. If you were to read it, if you could read it in Hebrew, that's what the idea is. They're surrounding his ankles. They are close by to him. They're attacking him. This is like living in an area where the ISIS savages are taking lives. And he's faced with that. And he asks a riddle, a question. Why should I fear?

19:24Notice how he describes those threatening his life in verse 6. There's a couple of ways he describes. It, two of them here, in verse 6. The first one, he describes his foes as those trusting in their wealth, as those biting at his heel with no lack of worldly resources to put him six feet under before the sun's down. Things aren't looking good for the sons of Korah in the text. Secondly, in verse 6, he describes his foes as those who boast in the quantity of their wealth.

20:02I know people from my business background who are very wealthy, and I know some that you would never think are wealthy, and then there are some, they wear it on their sleeve, they wear it everywhere around them. They are extremely wealthy, and they want you to know it. Think of Donald Trump. This is a wealthy man who can underwrite his bid to the White House on his own dime or on his own billions. Just a few quotes from Donald Trump. He says, quote, I'm really rich.

20:37Here's another one. I have a net worth of $8.73. The three is more than I have. $8.73 billion. And then he says, I'm not doing that to brag. We would say, well, why are you doing that? He says, I'm doing, I'm reading it here, so I get it right. I'm doing that to show that's the kind of thinking our country needs. Our drive and desire is to get that 8.73 billion because that will keep us from the grave, right?

21:21God's word expresses the Donald's perspective a little bit differently. So the psalmist sees wickedness surrounding him. Get that in your eye. They are surrounding him. And he doesn't care how wealthy they might be. He doesn't even care if they drink organic milk at $6 a gallon. You can't prevent another person's death, no matter how much you have. You can't do it. You can pay for his gym membership, and that's a good thing. You can get her a massage therapist. Now, that's a really good thing. Personal physician, like Michael Jackson had, he had a personal physician, but you might find yourself, your personal physician, being the one who ends your life. What good is that?

22:18You can buy the best free-range chicken money can buy from a local outlet, mind you, local, let's buy local. The finest of organic vegetables, but you can't avoid. Death's long arm shepherding you six feet under. This is what we came to church for in the morning. This is so encouraging. The second way to apply wisdom is in verse 7, also in verse 7. You can't even pay God to keep someone from the grave, is what he tells us here. You can't even pay a ransom to God and say, God, I got $8.73 billion.

23:04I want Sally's life. Just, here's your money, God. What a silly proposition. Not going to happen. Third way to apply wisdom is in verse 8, which tells you the reason you can't redeem somebody else. Do you see it there in verse 8, the reason? Here it is. Because redemption of his soul is costly, and a man should stop trying to redeem it. Stop it, the psalmist says. And we would say, well, for how long? Should we stop it? Verse 8 has that answer as well. It's right there in the text. He says, forever.

23:46It's not going to work. Spurgeon, again, I like his comment on here. He has a way of putting things. He says, death comes and wealth cannot bribe him. Hell follows and no golden key can. Unlock its dungeons. Psalm 89, 48. Psalm 89, 48 has two questions for you. Two questions. Here they are. What man can live and not see death? Second question. Can a man deliver his soul from Sheol? And he closes with the word Selah. Do you know what Selah means? It means, hold on a second and think about what you just read or what I just said from the text. Let me do it again. As I finish the statement, do a Selah. Stop and think about it. What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?

24:49No. No, he can't. So now what? The fourth way to apply wisdom in verse 10, which tells us that those who try to redeem another from seeing death, what do we see? We see something here. What do we see in verse 10? Oh, my mother would be so disappointed in me here, but I'm going to use words from the Bible. It's in the Bible. Wise people and stupid people. Eric, never called people stupid. My mom would say.

25:17Wise people and stupid people and senseless people are all the same. And their wealth, they leave it to others. Whether you're poor or you're rich, you leave whatever you have to other people. He expounds on this. In verse 11, stupid people and senseless people are all the same. They think that their stuff will last forever. They build monuments to themselves and think that it's going to go on from generation to generation. They have all kinds of properties, all kinds of wealth, and they have monuments to their names, and they think that it will be there forever.

25:51How many famous names do you remember from the last 6,000 years of history? Maybe you could count up to 100. It doesn't last. Would you turn with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 2? We're going to start in verse 18. Ecclesiastes is just a few books over to the right. You've got Proverbs, or excuse me, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. And in this book, we find that Solomon, the wisest man that ever lived, addresses this problem of death, this problem of leaving his stuff behind.

26:29Verse 18, he says of all that he's done here, Ecclesiastes 2:18, thus I hated all the fruit of my labor, for which I had labored under the sun, for I must leave it to the man who will come after me. Verse 19. And who knows whether he will be a wise man or a fool? Do you have the picture of what he's saying in your mind? He's worked all his life to get everything around him, everything, all his life. Ducks in a row, and he doesn't even know if the guy coming along is going to be a wise man or a fool. Verse 19 continues, yet he will have control over all the fruit of my labor for which I have labored by acting wisely under the sun. This too is vanity.

27:18I act wisely, and a fool controls all my stuff. Therefore, he says in verse 20, I completely despaired of all the fruit of my labor which I had labored under the sun. Hmm. Back to Psalm 49:12. There's a fifth way that the sons of Korah, through the inspiration of God Himself, wants us to apply wisdom, and it's in verse 12. But before we get to verse 12, we think about verse 4. In verse 4, the psalmist said, Incline mine ear to a proverb. It's a command.

28:00Well, in verse 12, I mentioned that he's going to answer his proverb. He's going to answer his riddle. And he repeats it in verse 20. Here it is, verse 12. But man in his pomp will not endure. He's like the beast that perish. Here's his proverb. Actually, that's not the answer. That's the proverb. He's like the beast that perish. And he closes this psalm out with the very same statement in verse 20. Ponder the realities of those words. This pompous person, this one surrounding my ankles, my heels, that's trying to kill me, he's going to perish forever.

28:43The word pomp can also mean that the man is a, well, it's self-proclaimed splendor. He thinks his splendor is for everybody to look at and compliment him over. A self-proclaimed magnificence, a self-proclaimed preciousness about his possessions. And he will by no means, the scripture tells us, endure or remain. We've got a question for this psalmist, don't we? We want to know something here. So you say to the psalmist, well, what then will happen to man? Here we see that man is no different than the animal. Do you see it? Than the animal that perishes, the beast in the field.

29:27Look at the passage again. He says, they're going to perish. We've seen this word before, and I've said this before. I'll repeat it again. For those who are English majors, this will hit you straight on. That word perish is reflexive. It points back to the person who does something to themselves. It means they're going to perish themselves. They're going to bring their perishing on as a result of their own desire to perish themselves. Just like in 2 Peter 3:9, the word perish is translated from the Greek into perish.

30:00And we read about the same concept. You don't have to look it up. I'll just quote it. 2 Peter 3:9 says this. It tells us God's will. This is important, right? We all want to know God's will. Here it is. The Lord is not slow about his promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing, literally not counseling, that's the literal meaning of the word, not wishing, not counseling for any to perish. Literally, he doesn't counsel you to perish yourself, but for all to come to repentance.

30:34I'm saddened that people honestly teach that repentance is not necessary for salvation. But here in 2 Peter 3:9, the Lord counsels people to repent for a reason. Why? What's the reason? Here it is. So they don't perish themselves. What does repent mean? It means stop ignoring Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life. Turn around and confess him as your Lord and Savior. That's what he's talking about here. The message is clear. If you refuse to turn from sin, if you refuse to repent, you ignore the Lord's counsel and you will perish yourself.

31:16Those are sobering thoughts. In Psalm 43, 19, this is the way of the foolish. Well, no kidding. Who would perish themselves? Foolish people do. That, as do also those coming after them. The passage tells us those who are perishing are also those who give complimentary words to those who were pompous, and they're just like them. They will perish themselves too. He completes verse 3 with that word Selah. And again, it just simply means to pause, ponder, think about what I've just said. The music stops, the harp stops playing, and you ponder the words that the Holy Spirit had given to the sons of Korah.

32:03Ponder with me the sobering words of verse 14. He says this: As sheep, they are appointed for sheol. Death will be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning, and their form shall be for sheol to consume, that they have no habitation, no life. We know that King David has a shepherd, right? He identifies his shepherd, this shepherd who rescues him from the grave, our same shepherd who rescues us from the grave. David wrote these familiar words in Psalm 23. Probably if we stood up, we could cite them together. How's it start? The Lord is my shepherd.

32:54Yet, here in Psalm 49, for those who refuse to turn from sin, their shepherd is not. The Lord, the Lord that is David's Lord. If the Lord is not their shepherd, then who? Who is their shepherd in verse 14? Who is the one who guides them? Do you see their shepherd in verse 14? Those refusing God's gift of salvation also have a shepherd. Their shepherd is death. The sons of Korah tell us. I had a professor, a Hebrew professor in seminary. I love the way he sums up this particular passage. He brings it to much greater light than I can. He says, quote, this is Dr. Barrick. Those who thought they needed no divine guide end up with a shepherd whose name is death, who herds them into Sheol to dwell forever.

33:51That's Psalm 49. Well, all this takes us back to where we started in verse 5 with that question, that riddle. Why should we fear adverse days? Why should we be afraid when there's evil surrounding us and biting at our heels? Why should we be afraid? The answer to that question comes to us. And the third thing that we need to understand about death and the sovereignty of God, before we get to the third thing, just a reminder here, the first thing we have to remember is that the psalmist, he commands you to understand this message through a proverb and a riddle. Then the psalmist commends your understanding concerning life and death. And now, the psalmist, the third thing, the psalmist cautions you concerning the high price of redemption. It's very costly.

34:39Look at verse 15. This is when we get to come up for a breath of fresh air. Look at the first two words. But God. But God. Finally, relief. But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me, say law. Think about that. Didn't he just say that no man can purchase anybody else's redemption? I got news for you. But God can redeem. God can receive. Jesus is not just a man. Jesus is God in the flesh, and he, with his shed blood on the cross, is able to redeem, to purchase back. This expresses verses 16 through 14 expresses a very stark contrast, doesn't it? The long arm of the grave has no power here to shepherd anyone here because God will redeem, the psalmist says, my soul. He will redeem me emphatically.

35:48You know what this is? This is a text that speaks of the future. Theologians would call this an eschatological text. It means just something that's going to happen. The future. Those who trust in Christ will be resurrected from the grave. That's what this passage is talking about. Did you know that the Old Testament touches on that issue just as much as the New Testament? And from a theological perspective, they will be resurrected. James Boyce puts it this way: he says, Thus the servant is inseparable from his master, whether in life or in death. This is nothing short than a message about resurrection.

36:30Listen, just listen to how Psalm 73:24 echoes this truth. Here's what it says: With your counsel, Psalm 73:24, with your counsel you will guide me, and afterwards you will receive me to glory. Wow, it's a promise. The New Testament chisels this out too, this whole message. 1 Corinthians 15, starting in verse 55. 1 Corinthians 55, he says, O death, where is your what? Victory. O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives victory through whom? Our Lord Jesus Christ. Wow. Hallelujah is right. No man can redeem you. You cannot redeem your brother. Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, is the only one with that ability. Please enjoy. Indulge me in a little bit of repetition here. The Holy Spirit, he engages the sons of Korah to write Psalm 49. Their message reaches down into their hearts and our hearts too, in our minds with a two bone-chilling facts. You've heard this before. People are incapable of redeeming themselves, but they are capable of perishing themselves, no doubt. But God, on the other hand, second fact, is the only one with the ability to take those who are perishing themselves and redeem them for Himself.

38:10King David puts it this way in Psalm 139:8. Psalm 139.8, he says, Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed and she all the grave, behold, you are there. If you have family members, if you have close friends, people that you love and care for, who have passed on to be with the Lord for eternity, my dad passed away a year ago. This passage comforts me. Know this passage when believers pass away. Psalm 116:15. Psalm 116, 15, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones. How encouraging is that?

39:03Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his godly ones. I said that the New Testament talks about this. Peter in Acts chapter 2, verses 24 through 48, Acts 2:24, he says this. Speaking of Jesus, he said, But God raised him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible to be held by its power. For David says of him, Jesus, a thousand years before Jesus was born, I saw the Lord always in my presence, for he is at my right hand, that I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart was glad, and my tongue exalted. Moreover, my flesh also will live in hope. Because you will not abandon me to Hades, my soul to Hades, he says. You won't allow your holy one to undergo decay. Jesus walked out of that tomb three days later.

40:04You have made known to me the ways of life. You will make me full of gladness with your presence. Back to Psalm 49, 16. This is an encouraging message. Psalm 49, 16, finally, the sons of Korah, they give us an answer to their riddle from verses 5 and 6. As I said earlier, they ain't scared of death. And for the same reasons, Believers shouldn't be afraid of it either. Do you see it in verses 16 through 20? Here's why we shouldn't be afraid. He asked the question in verse 5, why should I fear in the days of adversity? Verse 16, do not be afraid.

40:46That should be sufficient. But he goes on, Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased, when he dies, he will carry nothing away. His glory will not descend after him, though while he lives, he congratulates himself, and though men praise you, when you do well for yourself, he shall go to the generation of his fathers. What does it mean to go to the generation of your fathers? It's a Hebrew idiom. It means you're going to the grave and you're going to be in the same place as your parents.

41:28Verse 20. Oh, let me finish verse 19. And they will never see the light. Verse 20, man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish. Man, in his self-proclaimed splendor, his self-importance, pride, ego, magnificence, and in view of his own preciousness, will by no means endure or remain. That's what he's saying here. Walt Kaiser, he sums it up this way. Way. So the question in verse 5 and 6 is answered by the psalmist. It is God who will take care of our lives by redeeming us and who will finally take us in resurrection, much like Enoch went directly to be with him. This is a passage of resurrection, a message of hope for those who have placed their trust in Christ, yet God will one day future yet take us. Meaning those who have turned from the rejection of Christ, who repented of sin and trusted Him as their Savior and have embraced Him as their Lord will be those that take.

42:40Those who refuse God's grace and mercy will separate themselves just like they separate themselves from Him now. They'll do it for eternity at the point of death. This separation is not just the long arm of the shepherd of the grave, but a physical place that Jesus refers to in the book of Revelation as a lake of fire, Selah. What have we learned today out of the book of Psalm chapter 49? Well, we've learned this. Since God is sovereign, believers must understand that He prevents them from destroying Himself, themselves.

43:27God alone has the power to rescue repentant saints. Sinners from the grave. No man can pay for his brother's way out. The New Testament is so clear that Jesus Christ is God. He's 100% man, he's 100% God, and he can pay the way. Indeed, he paid the way. Ephesians chapter 1, he redeemed us with his own blood. Three things to understand about death and the sovereignty of God. First, the psalmist, he commands your understanding through a proverb and a riddle. He commends your understanding concerning life and death. We should have a better understanding of that now. And the psalmist cautions you about the high price of redemption. It's a very costly price. There's only one way to pay it, and it's Jesus' blood on the cross. That was the most expensive way to pay for our salvation, yet he went there willingly. Went there willingly.

44:27Believers are overjoyed because God will redeem our souls from the power of grave, the grave. We are blessed because he will receive us to himself. But for those who haven't repented and trusted in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the Lord has wise counsel for you that you need to heed today. And you need to settle this in your own life with Christ today. It's found in 2 Peter 3:9. Jesus expresses his will. Here's God's. God's will. The Lord is not slow to his promises. He will redeem those that call on him. He's not slow to that promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not counseling any of you to perish yourselves, but for all to come to repentance. That's God's will for you right now. Right now. Don't let the day go by without acknowledging Christ as your Savior. The message is clear. If you refuse to turn from sin, if you refuse to repent, if you refuse to ignore the Lord's counsel in your life, you will perish yourself.

45:39Father, Lord, thank you for Psalm chapter 49. We take such great courage in those words, but God, but God is able to redeem us. He is able to receive us. And you warn us. You counsel us. Don't perish yourselves. Repent. Turn. Turn. Receive Christ as your Savior. Turn your life to what He beckons to do, to surrender to Him so that we don't perish ourselves. Lord, this is a message about your sovereignty. This message points to the power of your hand. No man has the capability to do what you do, but we are certainly able to reject you both now and for eternity. We pray, Father, now that you would turn hearts. And souls to yourself, even in this moment of silence that we take to pray, and as we pray for others, to bow to Christ even now.