Psalms 49:13

THE MIGHTY TRUTH REVEALED

"This their way is their folly;

Yet, after them, men approve their sayings (Selah)

They are appointed as a flock for Sheol;

Death shall be their shepherd;

And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning;

And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume,

That there be no habitation for it.

But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol;

For he will receive me."

"Their way is folly ... yet men approve their sayings" (Psalms 49:13). Men do not merely approve their sayings, they also approve their ways, their life-style, their attitudes, etc., and eagerly follow in the very patterns rich men have established, futile and foolish though they are.

"For Sheol ... Death shall be their shepherd." Dahood stated that there are no less than five designations for the realm of the dead in this one psalm. He followed the marginal alternative in Psalms 49:9, reading `Pit' instead of `corruption,' commenting that, "This is one of the five poetic names for Sheol in this Psalm."[7] He even translated the words `in honor' as `Mansion,' a sarcastic word for the realm of the dead in Psalms 49:12,20. Our version does not corroborate this.

The figure here is that the wicked shall descend like a great flock of sheep into the nether world, where Death shall be their shepherd!

Addis' summary of these three verses is, "The wicked like the righteous die, but the righteous alone have the prospect of immortality."[8]

"The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning" (Psalms 49:14). We might ask, `What morning'? and Rawlinson gives this answer:

"When the resurrection morning comes - and no other explanation seems possible (see even Cheyne) - it will bring them no release; the righteous will then `have dominion over them,' and certainly shall not set them free (Revelation 21:8)."[9]

In this quotation, Rawlinson could not have meant that in the future life the righteous shall rule over the wicked or that they shall in some way control the wicked, but rather that their right of dominion in whatever the purpose of God may be shall be preferred `over' and above that of the wicked whose destiny is the lake of fire.

"But God shall redeem my soul; from the power of Sheol; For He (God) will receive me" (Psalms 49:15).

Both liberal and conservative scholars alike have tried to surpass each other in extolling the glory and importance of these words:

"Here is the solution to the `parable' and the `dark saying' (Psalms 49:4). The souls of the righteous will be redeemed, not by themselves, but by God. They will be delivered from the power of the grave (or Hades); while the ungodly shall be held under by Death and the grave (Psalms 49:14). The righteous shall be released from Death and will enter upon a higher life."[10]

"Here is the hope of faith that reaches beyond death, and in doing so overcomes death spiritually."[11]

"This is one of the rare references in the Old Testament to a belief in an afterlife."[12]

"Clearly, the writer expected a resurrection from the dead. The notion that God's children in the Old Testament had no hope in the resurrection is simply not the truth."[13]

"Here the psalmist makes one of the few Old Testament confessions of faith in a meaningful afterlife. Others are Psalms 16:10; 73:24; Job 19:25-27; Daniel 12:2-3; and Isaiah 26:19)."[14]

"This is one of the mountain-tops of Old Testament hope."[15]

"The psalmist here says, `I shall have a resurrection from the dead and an entrance into God's glory; and death shall have no dominion over me.'"[16]

"The text here rendered, `He will receive me,' is just as accurately translated, `He will take me.'"[17]

"This is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for `take' (or `receive') here is technical. It is applied in Genesis 5:24 to the translation of Enoch, and in 2 Kings 29f to the translation of Elijah."[18]

Such a glorious witness of the Resurrection is, of course, challenged by unbelievers, some of whom have claimed that, "This verse refers only to premature death"; but as Leupold stated, "Such a view scarcely does justice to this text."[19]

Also, Addis cited another device employed to get around what is plainly said here. "They interpret the Psalm as the voice of Israel (the nation); individuals might perish, but not Israel, God's Son. The language here, however, gives no hint of any such personification."[20]

We cite another comment, unfortunately made by a man whom we consider to be a believer; but his comment seems to us to detract from the luster of this marvelous text. Yates wrote: "Psalms 49:15 is one of the clearest evidences of a hint of immortality in the Old Testament."[21]

Indeed, indeed! "A hint of immortality?" This reminds us of an incident that happened in Boston during the gang wars, an event widely publicized in the AP and the UP. A man opened up a bar; and one night several members of a rival `Mob' raided the place, lined up six of the employees in the basement and executed all six with gun fire. In his interview with the police next day, the owner said, "I detect a hint of opposition in this"! In our view that hint resembles the one Kyle Yates mentioned!

A few other die-hards, unwilling to admit what the text here dogmatically declares, speak knowingly of damaged MSS, and defective text. However, Leupold put that type of objection to rest with his declaration, "That type of criticism is greatly exaggerated; true, difficulties exist; but the current translations are reasonably constructed."[22]

Our own personal view is that there was a much more widespread conviction in ancient Israel of the certainty of a resurrection than is usually admitted. The very brief, off-hand manner in which this glorious promise of the resurrection is treated in this psalm can be logically explained as being fully sufficient, no arguments in favor of it being necessary, due to the fact of such a conviction being general among all the people. "It must be that the hope of life with God was more real in Old Testament days than many commentators would allow."[23] That this was the general expectation of all Israel is indeed indicated by Hebrews 11:35. This does not deny that the New Testament light on this subject is far more adequate.