For the music director, a psalm by the Korahites.
This song was written for the music director of the Levites. The sons of Korah would sing these songs at the Levitical feasts.
49:1 Listen to this, all you nations! Pay attention, all you inhabitants of the world!
This song was written to all of the nations and peoples of the world.
49:2 Pay attention, all you people, both rich and poor!
This song was written to all of the rich and poor people of the world.
49:3 I will declare a wise saying; I will share my profound thoughts.
The song will declare the wise thoughts of the psalmist. He will give some divine viewpoint to his listeners.
49:4 I will learn a song that imparts wisdom; I will then sing my insightful song to the accompaniment of a harp.
The psalmist will give his divine viewpoint to the accompanist of stringed instruments. Music is a very powerful teacher. Whoever controls the music of a nation often controls the nation.
49:5 Why should I be afraid in times of trouble, when the sinful deeds of deceptive men threaten to overwhelm me?
The psalmist asked a question to his listeners. Why should he fear deceptive men who threaten him in times of trouble?
49:6 They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches.
These deceptive men who were attempting to destroy the psalmist do not trust in God. They trust in their wealth and riches.
49:7 Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price 49:8 (the ransom price for a human life is too high, and people go to their final destiny), 49:9 so that he might continue to live forever and not experience death.
These deceptive men cannot redeem their brother. Only the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ can redeem a man from his final destiny.
49:10 Surely one sees that even wise people die; fools and spiritually insensitive people all pass away and leave their wealth to others.
The rich and arrogant are foolish. One day they will die and leave their material wealth to others.
49:11 Their grave becomes their permanent residence, their eternal dwelling place. They name their lands after themselves, 12 but, despite their wealth, people do not last, they are like animals that perish.
All men, including the rich and wealthy, will die physically just as the animals die physically. The Jehovah Witnesses falsely use this verse to teach soul sleep. This verse is teaching the physical death of all men, not soul sleep.
49:13 This is the destiny of fools, and of those who approve of their philosophy. (Selah)
Fools are those who elevate their human opinions above the Word of God. They approve of secular humanistic philosophy, such as atheism, agnosticism, evolution, feminism, multiculturalism, same sex marriage, abortion, and other doctrines of demons.
49:14 They will travel to Sheol like sheep, with death as their shepherd. The godly will rule over them when the day of vindication dawns; Sheol will consume their bodies and they will no longer live in impressive houses.
The arrogant and foolish rich men will travel to Sheol like sheep. Sheol was the grave, which consisted of Paradise, Hell, Tartarus, and the Abyss. Paradise was the place of the Old Testament believers. Hell is the current place of all unbelievers. Tartarus was the permanent imprisonment of demons who intermarried with humans (in Genesis 6). The Abyss is a temporary confinement for some of the evil demons. The demons asked Jesus not to throw them into the Abyss. Some of the demons of the Abyss will be freed during the Great Tribulation.
The godly will rule over the world during the Millennial Kingdom, because they will be resurrected. The dead without Christ will be resurrected at the Great White Throne Judgment and sentenced eternally to the Lake of Fire.
It is foolish for the rich and wealthy to live without God, because they will not be able to take their nice and expensive homes to Sheol.
49:15 But God will rescue my life from the power of Sheol; certainly he will pull me to safety. (Selah)
God will rescue the psalmist from Sheol. When he died, he went to Paradise. The Lord Jesus Christ emptied Paradise after His resurrection.
49:16 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich and his wealth multiplies!
The believer never needs to fear the wealth of a rich man.
49:17 For he will take nothing with him when he dies; his wealth will not follow him down into the grave.
The rich man cannot take his wealth into the afterlife.
49:18 He pronounces this blessing on himself while he is alive: “May men praise you, for you have done well!”
The rich man foolishly praises himself. He thinks that he has earned the wealth on his own. He does not understand that God has given him the wealth, but he has squandered it on the things of the satanic world system.
49:19 But he will join his ancestors; they will never again see the light of day.
The godless rich will join their ancestors in hell. They will never see the light of day again.They will be resurrected into the Lake of Fire.
49:20 Wealthy people do not understand; they are like animals that perish.
Wealthy people think that they are smarter than others, but they lack divine
viewpoint. Wealthy people live like animals. They die just as the animal dies.