Psalm 49...

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

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

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.

God the Righteous Judge—Psalm 49

Psalm 49 is about as real as it gets because it addresses what for all of us in this life is most certain...our own death.  The psalmist’s words address all, rich, poor, low and high...everyone all together. 

Death is experienced by all.  None escape. Those who boast in their riches can by no means redeem his brother nor give God a ransom for him. The redemption of their souls is costly and once they die the possibility ceases forever.  The wise man dies as the fool and leaves his wealth to others.  His last thought is that his house will last forever. Death feeds on them and their beauty is consumed far from their dwellings.  These are the thoughts and ways of the foolish who, as verse 9 implies, somehow hope to circumvent death and live eternally, despite the fact that the witness before them is incontrovertible. All die...  

Verse 15 speaks to the sure and certain biblical hope of the Psalmist, and I think it is among the greatest affirmations of confidence in the Lord in all of Scripture. 

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,

For He shall receive me. Selah

What an encouragement to read especially after reading all the condemnations of the self-reliant. For me, it brought Job to mind. 

For I know that my Redeemer lives,

And He shall stand at last on the earth;

And after my skin is destroyed, this I know,

That in my flesh I shall see God,

Whom I shall see for myself,

And my eyes shall behold, and not another.

How my heart yearns within me!-Job 19:25-27

The unbeliever cannot buy his way out of death.  The believer’s soul, however, on the other hand, is redeemed by the only One who can redeem him, God Himself. The Psalmist knew that God would raise him to eternal life.  

Just as an aside here, because I found it very interesting, the word “receive” used in verse 15 is the same Hebrew word used for “took” in Genesis 5:24 which says:

And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

The Lord snatched Enoch up or carried him away.  Enoch did not see death...the Lord just took him.  Genesis 5 is filled with “and he died.”  Enoch is the only break in the pattern where death has been up to that point, universal. The author of Psalm 49 had this same hope...that while his body would die, his soul, like Enoch’s, would be received by the Lord.; he understood that God would redeem his life from the power of the grave.  Why should we then fear in the day of our death?  Beloved one of God...believe.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?—Matthew 16:26

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.—1 John 2:15-17

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. 14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.—Revelation 20:11-15