Psalms 49:20 - Exposition

Man that is in honour, and under. standeth not, is like the beasts that perish . In Psalms 49:12 the writer had said of all men, that they are "like the beasts that perish," which is true in one sense; i.e. in reference to this life. Now, having taken a loftier flight, and embraced in his mental vision the whole life of man, he makes an important qualification of what he had said. All men die; but only those who are "without understanding" die without hope—"like the beasts:" for others there remains the hope enunciated in Psalms 49:15 .