Antidote to Vanity and Death (4)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 49.13-15
This is the way of those who are foolish,
And of their posterity who approve their sayings.
Selah
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.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,
For He shall receive me.
Selah

Sing Psalm 49.13-15

(Sagina: And Can It Be, That I Should Gain)
Thus go the foolish on their way, and all who approve their deceitful words.
Meekly like sheep to death they go, and meet destruction afterwards.
See how the righteous overrules the fleeting forms of dying fools!
Refrain v. 15
My God redeems my soul from hell!
His grace and mercy let me tell!

Read Psalm 49.13-15

Preparation
1. What happens to those who choose to live as fools?

2. What awaits those who have been redeemed?

Meditation
Those who choose to live like beasts will die like beasts, their souls failing to realize the happiness they sought by all their self-serving means. “Death shall feed on them” and that forever and ever, denying them any hope of true life and joy in the salvation only God can give (v. 14). They refused to know Him or to give Him thanks for His many good gifts; thus, they consigned themselves to a life of increasing separation from God, ending in eternal death, as Paul explained (Rom. 1.18-32). When the new day of eternal life dawns, and the Daystar descends in judgment, those who are with Him in uprightness will rule over the wicked, who will see the ugliness of their ways and be cast into a dwelling of everlasting fire (v. 14, cf. Rev. 19).

We dare not gloat about this. God is our Redeemer, but not because of anything we have done (v. 15). He receives us because of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ, Whose death on the cross is sufficient to pay for the sins of every human being. The grave has no hold on us who have been redeemed. The eternal dwelling of fire awaits us not; rather, we look for a new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells.

Eternal joy, eternal despair. We know the difference, and we know the way to that dwelling place that satisfies all our longings for happiness. Should we not, like the sons of Korah, make every effort to tell the people in our world about the wages of sin, the hope of redemption, and the promise of eternal life?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Those who choose to live like beasts will die like beasts…”

But here is the amazing thing: God created beasts (real beasts Gen. 1.24, 25), and He has power over them and over those of us who behave like them.

He also created us in His image (Gen. 1.26, 27). And then He said that we would have dominion over “every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1.28). God created us for success over the beasts and over ourselves. The opposite of this is: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls” (Prov. 25.28).

Our Redeemer Jesus has rule over the beasts and over us. In Mark 11.2 Jesus told His disciples to “Go into the village opposite you; and as soon as you have entered it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has sat.”
I am not an equine specialist, but my thought is that the animal is big, and it is wild. No one has sat upon it before, and now Jesus plans to ride it. Jesus could’ve sent the disciples into the village to a stable to hire a tame animal for transport. But He didn’t. He wanted them and us to see that He is Lord of all creatures – big, wild, untamed, or tame. And humans, as well. And when the Lord has need of something, or someone, we best do His bidding.

“And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost’” (Lk. 19.9, 10). And now that we are redeemed and found, we have a purpose to fulfill. And here it is: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2.11-14).

Redeemed beasts. He shall receive us! (Ps. 49.15)

Reflection
1. How is it evident that many people today deny the existence of the soul and insist that people are merely a higher form of animal? Why do they do this? What is the effect of this?

2. Can we realize our true purpose and greatest happiness in life by living as mere beasts? Why not?

3. What does it mean to you to be created in God’s image and redeemed in Jesus for the renewing of that image in you (2 Cor. 3.12-18)?

We must not overlook, (what I have already noticed,) that the sure method of profiting by the divine promises is, to apply to ourselves what God has offered generally to all without exception. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Psalm 49.15

Closing Prayer: Psalm 49.15-20
Spend an extended season of prayer, praising and thanking God for your redemption, and looking forward to His return to take you to be with Him forever. Then pray for the lost people in your Personal Mission Field, and for an opportunity to share Jesus today.

Sing Psalm 49.16-20 15
(Sagina: And Can It Be, That I Should Gain)
Let the redeemed of God take heart, though fools and all their wealth increase.
Death shall deprive him of all he owns, the grave shall make his glory cease.
Thus though he boasts, no light he sees;  his end in hell shall ever be.
Refrain v. 15
My God redeems my soul from hell!
His grace and mercy let me tell!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.