And the reading will be chapter 10, verses 35 through 45. Mark 10, 35 through 45. Let’s give careful attention to this, because this is the very Word of God. And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.
He said to them, what do you want me to do for you? And they said to him, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left in your glory. Jesus said to them, you do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized? And they said to him, we are able. And Jesus said to them, the cup that I drink, you will drink. And with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized.
But to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, you know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, but it shall not be so among you. For whoever would be great among you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Now let’s turn to that Psalm we just sang together, Psalm 49. as our Old Testament reading and as the text for this evening’s sermon. Psalm 49. To the Choir Master, a Psalm of the Sons of Korah. Hear this, all peoples. Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak wisdom. The meditation of my heart shall be understanding. I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. Why should I fear in times of trouble when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly, no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life. For the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
For he sees that even the wise die. The fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth to others. Their graves are their homes forever. They’re dwelling places to all generations, though they call it lands by their own names. Man, in his pomp, will not remain. He is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence, yet after them people approve of their boasts. Like sheep, they are appointed for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol.
He will receive me. Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away. His glory will not go down after him. For though while he lives, he counts himself blessed, and though you get praise when you do well for yourself, his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man, in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like the beasts that perish.
And that’s the reading of God’s word. Let’s pray together now. Seek his blessing upon the ministry of the word. Oh, Lord, we commit these words to you. We thank you for them. We thank you that your Holy Spirit breathes them out for us and that they were written for our instruction. We pray that that same Holy Spirit, your own Holy Spirit, would be our teacher tonight, and that you’d be powerfully ministering to us, working in our midst, and that Christ would be glorified for it. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
So another academic year is upon us, and I’m looking forward to having a number of occasions, a number of opportunities to speak in chapel at CCA this year. In those nine years that I myself was a school teacher at a Christian school, I attended chapel weekly, usually with the high school, sometimes with the middle school. chapel every week for nine academic years means I heard a lot of chapel messages, heard a lot of different speakers.
And I can’t say that I remember lots of them. I can’t say that I remember very many of the messages that I heard. But I do remember one in particular. And I remember a particular phrase from that sermon from that chapel message that was that was delivered by a local pastor, I think he was the pastor of one of the churches that was represented in the among the student body. And I admired the man’s wisdom and his, I guess, courage, even, to say such things to these young people. Because the phrase that he used at the opening of his sermon, I don’t remember his text, but the phrase that he used at the opening of the sermon was, life is brief, and death is certain. I think I’ve shared that with you before. But it’s, it bears repeating. bears remembering. Life is brief, and death is certain.
This psalm speaks of that very thing. Psalm 49 is the last in this group of psalms by the sons of Korah. There are other clusters of psalms that are attributed to the sons of Korah elsewhere in the Psalter. But as far as this group of them goes, this is the final one.
And the psalm writer Proclaims wisdom. He says he will convey understanding. Understanding, that’s a key word in this psalm, because without understanding, he says, man is like the beasts that perish. Also, you notice that in verse four, verses one through four constitute the introduction, really, to the body of the psalm, and then verse five to the end, is made up of two parts, two verses of a song in a certain sense, you could think of it. But he says he’ll incline his ear to a proverb.
And that word that’s translated proverb in your ESV Bible comes from a Hebrew word that can be and often is translated as parable. And the Hebrew word for parable comes from the etymological background of it, relates to the idea of being like, something to be like something, which then as we move into the New Testament, we think about the parables of Jesus, Many, many, perhaps most of his parables began with an introduction along the lines of, the kingdom of heaven is like, and then he gives an illustration to teach a truth about the kingdom of heaven.
That’s sort of what a parable is. It’s a comparison. It’s an analogy. And so the writer here says he’s going to incline his ear, we could say, to a parable. And the parable of Psalm 49 reveals, it shows, that man in his pomp is like the beasts that perish. Says that twice. Man in his pomp without understanding, he says additionally, is like sheep appointed for Sheol. In other words, for the grave.
So again, thinking back to that faithful minister who preached in that chapel service all those years ago, saying life is brief and death is certain. What this parable, excuse me, what this psalm says to us is that the certainty of death compels all people to heed the wisdom of Christ, who alone can ransom souls. The certainty of death compels all people to heed the wisdom of Christ, who alone can ransom souls. And so, as we take a brief look at Psalm 49 together tonight, we’ll consider three things.
The first is, again, that certainty of death. Point number one is death is certain. Point number two, only Christ can ransom souls. And then three third, everyone dies in one of only two ways. So first of all, the certainty of death, the theme of death, even though it’s heavy on on many of our hearts, even tonight, the death is a focal point of this song.
If you were to go through and highlight or circle every reference in this psalm, in some way or another, in some form or another to death, there’s nearly 10 references just in these 20 verses to the fat to the mortality of man. And that’s a somber thing. It’s somber, but it’s necessary.
Because by nature, we don’t tend to take heed to it. and were prone not to prepare. That’s another reason why I appreciated that man’s chapel message so much, that he would come to a bunch of young people who just never think about death in general. They don’t take heed to the fact that they’re mortals. And he pointed them to the fact that they were, that they are.
And there are a number of different reasons why we could reflect on the fact of our mortality, or we could reflect on the reality of death. There are a number of different reasons to do that. But the psalmist in this psalm has a clear purpose. He has a couple of very clear purposes in mind as he reflects upon death and the grave.
And the first is, again, the certainty of death. The fact that no one is exempt from this reality of life in a fallen world. Look at verse 10 with me again. The thoughtful person, as it says in verse 10, will see that even the wise die. The fool and stupid alike must perish.
So, there’s that certainty. Also, in the opening verses, in the introduction to the psalm, he says, hear this all peoples. This is a message that everyone needs to hear. All the inhabitants of the world need to listen up and give heed to this, to what he has to say in this psalm, which he then goes on to elaborate on the certainty of death. And if you think about the sentiment that’s, that’s found in verse nine, it’s for any human being on this on this earth to, to, to think, in the words of verse nine, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
It’s just delusional to think that. So the psalmist, as he reflects on death isn’t reflecting on death for its own sake. He’s first of all, bringing to our attention the certainty of death, but he’s also secondly, bring it to our attention to improve our perspective, our perspective, especially for believers who are in the midst of trouble.
So if you look back at verses four and five, when he says, I’ll incline my ear to a proverb, I will solve my riddle to the music of the liar. Why should I fear in times of trouble when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me? In the original context, the psalmist was dealing with some trouble. And in order to recalibrate his thinking, in order to correct his perspective, he’s reflecting on death. Because his present reality, and perhaps the present reality for some of you, even tonight, is that persecutors are thriving, they’re prospering. And that creates a great crisis in our thinking, doesn’t it? when we see the wicked prospering, when we see even wicked people who are mistreating us prospering. And so, for that reason, the Psalm writer reminds himself, and he’s reminding God’s people of future reality.
He’s not allowing present reality to rule his thought or to dominate. his thinking. With eyes of faith, he’s looking to future reality. And what he sees as he does so is what he expresses in verses 16 and 17. Be not afraid. Or he asked the question in verse 5. Why should I fear? Now he’s telling himself, he’s telling us. Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies, he will carry nothing away. His glory will not go down after him. So the psalmist is trying to correct his own perspective, to improve his focus, to recalibrate his thinking. Hillary and I have some dear friends back in our former town, Some of you have met them, they’ve come to visit. They’re very zealous for evangelism. They love to go out and hand out gospel tracts and talk with people about Jesus.
And there’s a gospel tract that you can customize for your own place, your own location. And you can plug in whatever county you live in. So out there, it would have been Beaufort County, South Carolina, we could do one for Orange County. And it’s a little card that says, the death rate in Orange County is 100%. just as a reminder that everybody who’s living in Orange County right now is going to die sooner or later.
Now, in the context of personal evangelism, the message there, of course, is to remind people of their own mortality. But in the context of the psalm here, the psalmist is reminding himself that the wicked who are oppressing him, the wicked who are afflicting him and cheating him, they’re going to be consumed.
He’s assured of it. Christopher Ash in his commentary, said, believers need not fear those who trouble them in this age, because death is the great leveler. So we see in Psalm 49, that death is certain, but we also see, secondly, that only Christ can ransom souls. carnal man puts his trust in his wealth. So we see in verse six, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches. And when people trust in their wealth, they’re making their wealth an idol. It’s their God.
And it’s been noted, and I remind myself and all of you that wealth has great potential to be a snare for us. And it can be a snare both to the rich and to the poor. In other words, your financial status doesn’t inoculate you against the temptation towards covetousness and trusting in wealth. Because for the rich, for those who have wealth, wealth becomes a snare in the sense that they are prone to excessively delight in it, they’re prone to abuse it. But then to the poor who don’t have wealth, wealth can be a snare to them as well in the sense that they will have a covetous yearning for it. Which is why we’re told in Paul’s letter to Timothy that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And one reason people relentlessly pursue the increase of wealth is because they haven’t found satisfaction in it.
And they think if they just get more, they will. You’re familiar with that saying that was attributed to Rockefeller. When someone asked him, how much money is enough? Apparently, he said, just a little bit more. People will often point to that as an expression of his own greed.
Seemed a little bit different spin on that. But this idea that just a little bit more It can be a yearning for just more things, just more stuff of this life. But for someone who’s really putting their trust in wealth, really seeking satisfaction in it, that just a little bit more is an expression of, well, I haven’t found satisfaction in wealth up to the point that I have this much. But maybe that little bit more is what it’ll take for me to be satisfied. but it never is.
One, people won’t find satisfaction in wealth, they won’t find peace in it either. You get the idea from this psalm that maybe there’s this attitude that someone thinks they can ransom themselves through wealth, or maybe they can ransom someone else through wealth.
But it can’t be done. Only Christ can ransom souls. And people won’t find peace when they’re trusting in wealth, because deep down inside, no matter how hard people attempt to suppress this truth, deep down, everybody knows the truth of verse seven. No man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life.
But people’s hearts lie to them. People’s hearts lie to them and tell them, oh, a little bit more, we’ll do the trick. Man’s conscience knows deep down and man’s conscience convicts him that he needs to be ransomed. But then pride steps in and convinces them, hey, it’s okay, I can meet the need. but it’s a lie.
As we see in verses eight and nine, the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice that he should live on forever and never see the pit. Man’s wealth is of no account with God. Your money isn’t good with him. Eternal life Or we could put it, the ransom of one’s soul. Eternal life is of greater value than all the wealth in the whole world. You could have the combined wealth of Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. It wouldn’t be enough to purchase eternal life. Wealth is inadequate, no matter how much. Mere man cannot pay. And that’s why Peter And his first letter testifies to the only possibility of ransom.
And the ransom which is already yours, who are trusting in Christ. He says, you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Christ alone can ransom souls. in the way the psalmist put it in his Old Testament, pre-Christian, pre-incarnation understanding of it, is found in verse 15. In this wonderful expression of hope, Derek Kidner called it one of the mountaintops of Old Testament hope. He says, but God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol. So, you see, deliverance from death. The ransom of the soul requires no less than the very God-man, Jesus Christ. Nothing else and no one else will do. Only Christ can ransom souls. Well, then finally, this psalm teaches us a very sober message that everyone dies in one of only two ways. as I said before, Psalm 2 has, excuse me, Psalm 49 has two main sections.
Verses 1 through 4 are the introduction. And then from verse 5, through that first statement about man and his pomp being like the beasts that perish, verse 12, 5 through 12, that’s like the first verse of a song, and verse 12 is the refrain or the chorus, you might say. And then, starting in verse 13, you’ve got verse 2 of the song, with the chorus occurring again, in verse 20. Just to put it in song terms. Verse 12 has the boastful pompous cheats that we see in verse 5 in mind. Remember in verse 5 when he says, the iniquity of those who cheat me, he speaks of that.
And thinking of those people, says in verse 12, man in his pomp will not remain. He is like the beasts that perish. And verse 13 describes such a one’s destiny. This is the path of those who have foolish confidence. In other words, they’ll become like the beasts that perish. That’s their destiny. They won’t remain Verse 14 says, like sheep, they are appointed for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd.
And this one, anyone who dies in that condition will be parted from all of his wealth. Verse 17, when he dies, he’ll carry nothing away. His glory will not go down after him. He won’t have any special privileges. in the abode of death. He won’t have any currency. And so Matthew Henry said, while a saint can ask proud death, where is thy sting? Death will ask the proud sinner, where is thy wealth? Where is thy pomp? He won’t be able to take any of it with him. He’ll die without hope. But there’s another way a person can die, and that’s to die with hope, in hope. No amount of wealth can ransom a person’s soul, but God can ransom.
Verse 15, but God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Now, if you look at that word receive in your ESV Bible, where it says, God will receive me. The Hebrew word there in its most basic form means to take, means to take. And the same word is used in Genesis 5, 24, speaking of Enoch. Enoch walked with God and God took him. That’s the word there that the psalmist uses here. God will ransom my soul. He will take me. And maybe that connection is intended.
The same word, by the way, is used in verse 17. when it refers to the wicked dying, not carrying anything away. That’s the word for the word translated carry in your ESV Bible. So in the Hebrew, you’ve got that word appearing in those contexts, God will take me, but the wicked won’t take anything of his away. It’s as much as to say, God will take me, but the rich will take none of their riches.
And so, the person can die without hope, or they can die in hope, with hope. Hope, vindication, and glory are in store for those who trust in Christ. And you notice that speaking to those with foolish confidence, we’ve seen verse 14, what it says to, to those who trust in their riches, like sheep, they’re appointed for Sheol, death will be their shepherd. But then it goes on to say, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. You see, there’s a there’s a dawn, there’s a morning, There’s a rising of the sun for the righteous. Mourning there should be understood in New Testament terms as the general resurrection. So what he’s saying here is that the dawning of the age to come, at Christ’s glorious return, the righteous will reign over the wicked.
And those very ones that oppressed God’s righteous poor will be ruled over by those whom they oppressed. So you’ve got, when I say there’s only two ways, and we all must die in one of these two ways, dying in hope, dying without hope, there’s another way of describing this dichotomy that we see in this psalm, and it’s found in that refrain. We can either die like the beasts that perish, or As an alternative, we can die with understanding. You see that qualification in the second appearance of the refrain or the chorus.
Back in verse three, the psalmist says, the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. And then he shares his meditation in the course of the rest of the psalm. And he’s conveying understanding. The Holy Spirit is conveying understanding. It’s understanding that differentiates man from beast. You’ve got irrational animals, and you’ve got man who’s a rational creature, one who’s capable of understanding. And when he says at the end of the psalm, man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beast that perished, it’s not a reference to understanding in the general sense, but in the life-giving, saving understanding that comes through knowing God. comes through being in union with Christ. The kind of understanding this almost in Psalm 119 was talking about, when he cried out to God and prayed, give me understanding that I may live. That understanding is what distinguishes man from the beasts that perish.
We see the New Testament fruition of that in 1 John 5.20. Listen to what the Apostle John wrote. We know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. So Psalm 49 admonishes the people of the earth not to set their minds and their hearts on the things of this present world. It warns that man’s pride and man’s pomp and his possessions will pass away.
Meanwhile, God’s people are comforted, comforted to be patient in their trials and troubles. And so, let’s heed the encouragement, the exhortation of this psalm. Do not fear. Remember, the psalmist asks the rhetorical question in verse five, why should I fear in times of trouble? All the encouraging, uplifting exhortations in God’s Word that we not fear are summed up in a certain sense in this psalm. And they remind us of Christ’s own words. Do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul. Fear the Lord. And as one of our hymns says, then you will have nothing else to fear. Life is brief. Death is certain. But to know Jesus Christ is eternal life. Let’s pray.
Father in heaven, give us that knowledge. We thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, and we lay hold by faith of those words written by the Apostle John. We thank you for the understanding that we receive through Christ. Thank you that he came and gave us understanding that we may know him who is true. Grant us to know him and grant us eternal life. We pray this in Christ’s name. Amen.