Psalm 49, Riddle: What of the Grave?

Here is a song of wisdom, mixing music with proverb!

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Psalm 49:1-4, A psalm and proverb

Hear this, all you peoples; 

listen, all who live in this world,

 both low and high,

rich and poor alike:

 My mouth will speak words of wisdom; 

the utterance from my heart will give understanding.

 I will turn my ear to a proverb; 

with the harp I will expound my riddle:

"Listen!" cries the psalmist.  "I will sing wisdom to you!" This song, instead of being a song of worship, is a teaching, similar to those that occur in Proverbs or Ecclesiastes.

Note the repeated parallelisms, every statement a couplet.

This stanza ends by promising a riddle. The riddle now follows:

Psalm 49:5-6, Fears

Why should I fear when evil days come, 

when wicked deceivers surround me--

those who trust in their wealth 

and boast of their great riches?

The psalmist addresses his fear.

Psalm 49:7-9, No ransom

 No man can redeem the life of another 

or give to God a ransom for him--

the ransom for a life is costly, 

no payment is ever enough--

 that he should live on forever 

and not see decay.

We all die, we all decay.  There is nothing we can do to give a "ransom" for our life or the life of another. So, as earlier proverbs and psalms attest, we are all alike in the grave. Is there anything more?

Psalm 49:10-12, We all perish

 For all can see that wise men die; 

the foolish and the senseless alike perish

 and leave their wealth to others.

 Their tombs will remain their houses forever, 

their dwellings for endless generations, 

though they had named lands after themselves.

 But man, despite his riches, 

does not endure; 

he is like the beasts that perish.

Even if we have fancy dwellings and own much land, none of it goes with us. None of it is value to us after our death.

Psalm 49:13-14, All in the grave

 This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, 

and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

Selah.

 Like sheep they are destined for the grave, 

and death will feed on them. 

The upright will rule over them in the morning; 

their forms will decay in the grave,

far from their princely mansions.

And so, trusting in life and in ourselves gets us nowhere. What then?

Psalm 49:15, Redemption

 But God will redeem my life from the grave;

 he will surely take me to himself.

Selah.

Suddenly we turn to a conclusion, a statement of confidence! God will redeem even in the grave! The psalmist declares that somehow God will still call the singer to Him. The Old Testament rarely makes promises of a life after death; this seems to be one of those rare occasions. (The strongest Old Testament statement of an afterlife occurs in Daniel 12:2.)

Psalm 49:16-19, So don't be overawed

 Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, 

when the splendor of his house increases;

 for he will take nothing with him when he dies, 

his splendor will not descend with him.

 Though while he lived he counted himself blessed-- 

and men praise you when you prosper--

 he will join the generation of his fathers, 

who will never see the light [of life].

Since God will redeem us, we are no longer impressed by the rich and wealthy man who will also shortly go the grave and lose everything.

Psalm 49:20, Wealth and beasts

 A man who has riches without understanding 

is like the beasts that perish.

In summary, riches without understanding merely follows the beasts to the grave.

Some Random Thoughts

It is worth repeating here, that the Old Testament says very little about the possibility of life after death. A great deal is said about the value of living a life of significance and righteousness. And about the value of leaving descendants who will possess the land. But this psalm and the passage in Daniel 12 (cited above) are rare examples in which an Old Testament writer looks forward to a Resurrection and a future presence with God. Other passages are Job 19:25-26 and Isaiah 25:6-8. Psalm 16:9-11 speaks about not being abandoned to death, but is this talking about David or the Messiah? Some passages speak of Sheol, the grave (Genesis 37:34-35), or of "glory" (Psalm 73:24) or of being "gathered to one's people" (Genesis 25:8) but it is unclear what these mean.

This article from The Gospel Coalition goes into deeper detail.

First published Jan 15, 2024; updated  Jan 15, 2027