Bible Commentaries
Psalms 49

Verses 1-20

This is the song of a principle, and the psalmist commences by calling peoples of all castes and classes to give attention. It denies the power of material wealth, and a5rms that of uprightness. There are two things which wealth cannot do. It can neither help a man to escape death, nor can it ensure the life of the one possessing it. The passion of the heart for immortality is manifest in the building of houses and the naming of the land. It is all useless. Man is no more able to secure personal immortality thus than are the beasts which perish. Yet there is a mastery over Sheol and death. It is found in uprightness. The declaration, "The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning," is very difficult to explain if it does not contain the light of hope beyond the grave. The morning is certainly something beyond Sheol and death, and the hope of the upright is in God's deliverance from Sheol. The teaching of the song is simple, and sublime, present, and perpetual.