Psalm 49 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.1 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, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp. 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, 7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him— 8 for the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever— 9 that he should continue to live eternally, and not see the pit. 10 For he sees wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah
Here is a psalm of the gatekeepers. “’Hear this, all peoples;’ that is, What I am about; to utter is worthy of universal attention; it pertains equally to all mankind… All are interested in it.” (Albert Barnes) “Jews or Gentiles: for this doctrine is not peculiar to those that are blessed with divine revelation.” (Joseph Benson) It applies to “both the low (with small estates) and the high (with large estates), the rich and the poor... the wicked as well as the righteous.” (Thomas Constable)
“‘My mouth shall speak of wisdom’ etc. — I shall not treat of trivial things, nor of those I have but slightly considered; but about the most weighty matters, which my mind hath greatly pondered. I will enrich your souls with wisdom…” (Joseph Benson) “I will incline my ear to a proverb;”— “a succession of wise, moral, and divine maxims” (Joseph Sutcliffe)— “I have wrought my doctrine upon mine own affections first [through my ear to my innermost part], and shall dig it out of mine own bosom for your benefit.” (John Trapp) —“’I will disclose my dark [hidden] saying[s] [or parables] on the harp’— It shall be my song while it is yet day, “I will not smother it in my own breast, but publish it to the world.” (Joseph Benson)
What cause is there to fear on account of wicked rich men who persecute the righteous? “This seems to be the text of his discourse. And he proceeds to give a most satisfactory and decided answer in what follows. ‘Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him…’ These words are very plain, and speak a truth which every day's experience in the world proves. Every rich man that dies manifests a new testimony, that death is not to be bribed. Neither can one rich man stop the progress of death for his brother. But, doth not this very statement of the inability of riches among rich brethren to redeem each other, seem to point to One who became the brother of the poor in this world, who are rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, on purpose to redeem them?” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
“‘For the redemption of their souls is costly, etc. — Rare, or not to be found, as prophecy was precious in the days of Eli, 1 Samuel 3:1. The price of redemption, whether of the life or soul, was too high for any mere man to pay: so that the ancient fathers referred the verse to Christ, in this sense, ‘No man can’ redeem his brother, He alone excepted, who is also God.’ (Marg. Ref.) Even a Jewish interpreter ‘understands these words of the King Messiah, who, having died for’ the redemption of His brethren, afterwards liveth forever,’ as was predicted by Isaiah , Isaiah 53: 10. Bossuet, quoted by Bishop Horne.” (Thomas Scott)
“’And it shall cease forever— that he should continue to live eternally, and not see the pit,’ or the grave, i.e. not die, as that phrase is oft used, as has been noted before. ’For he sees wise men die.’ Every man sees and knows it; it is visible and evident, both from reason and from universal experience, that all men die, without any difference between wise and fools, good and bad.” (Matthew Poole) “’Likewise the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others.’ Every man may see, that the wise and learned of the world die, in the same manner as the foolish and stupid: and those, who have prospered in heaping up wealth, leave it all behind; perhaps to those for whom they never intended it, and who rejoice at their death. (Ecclessiates 2:12-23; Ecclessiates 5:13-17; Ecclessiates 9:13. Luke 12:15-21.)” (Thomas Scott)
“’Their inner thought is that their houses [perhaps their bodies] will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.’ Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling." (2 Corinthians 5:1-2) Yet for the wicked: "Their sepulchre is their dwelling for ever; their abode to all generations: they put their names upon heaps of earth. So the LXX read, which seems to give the easier and more natural sense. The latter part refers to the monumental inscriptions [on their graves]. ‘There is nothing left but their names, inscribed on heaps of earth.’” (Thomas Coke)
“‘Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not’. Against these ‘inward thoughts’ and outward actions, the psalmist simply maintains the ground already taken (Psalms 49:10): Man, in whatever honour he may be, ‘abideth not’—has but a short time to live. He is like the beasts that perish (Psalm 49:12). He has no more continuance than many of the beasts; like them, he passes from earth… ‘This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah’ The rich man must see that any hope of ransoming himself by means of his wealth, and so escaping death and the grave, is vain, since the law of mortality, which is in operation all around him, is universal. No one is redeemed from death, in the sense of escaping ‘THE FIRST DEATH.’
Not only do ‘the fool and the brutish person’ perish [or die], but the fate of ‘the wise’ is the same.” (The Pulpit Commentaries)
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. Selah
Some see a contrast here between the wicked who go to Hell to abide forever (when they die), and the faithful who go to God (when they die). “But that is not what the psalmist declares. He states that ‘no man’ can give to God the price of his life. Even the wise die, and they too go to Sheol, the pit. The difference is that the wise who trust in the LORD will be ransomed from Sheol. This is praise, not for survival from death, but for a future resurrection. God will receive him, but only after the ransom/ resurrection. It is the foolish who make boasts about their own [innate] immortality. The wise put their hope in God. LORD, we put our hope in you, and await our ransom on resurrection day.” (Van Patterson)
16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him. 18 Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), 19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. 20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.