Old Testament · Poetry and wisdom

Psalms chapter 49

Listen to this, all you . Pay attention, everyone alive in the .Whether you’re or , whether you’re rich or struggling -- all of you.What I’m about to say is . What my heart speaks on is full of .I’ll lean in close to a , and unlock my with the sound of a .Why should I be afraid when come, when the of those who want to bring me down surrounds me --those who put their in their and boast about how much money they have?No one can another person’s life. No one can pay God a for someone else --because the of a human life is too high. No payment will ever be enough --to let them live on forever and never see .Look around -- even the people die. The and the senseless alike are destroyed, and they leave their wealth behind for someone else.Deep down they think their will last forever, that they’ll live on their estates through every generation. They even name their land after themselves.But no human being, no matter how , will last. They are just like the animals that die.This is the path for those who are , and for those who follow them and swallow every word they say. .Like sheep they are headed for the grave. Death will be their . The will triumph over them when comes. Their bodies will waste away in the grave, far from any mansion they built.But God will my life from the grip of -- he will actually to himself. Selah.Don’t be when someone gets rich, when their fills up with expensive things.Because when they die, they take nothing with them. Their expensive things won’t follow them into the ground.Even though they while they’re alive -- and people praise you when you’re doing well for yourself --they will join the generation of their ancestors, who will never again see the .A person who has everything but doesn’t this is just like the animals that die.