Limitless Word

Psalms 49

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Part of Book II📖 Psalms introduction

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1For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. Listen, all you inhabitants of the world, ✦ 2both low and high, rich and poor together. ✦ 3My mouth will speak words of wisdom. My heart shall utter understanding. ✦ 4I will incline my ear to a proverb. I will open my riddle on the harp. ✦ 5Why should I fear in the days of evil, when iniquity at my heels surrounds me? ✦ 6Those who trust in their wealth, and boast in the multitude of their riches — ✦ 7none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give God a ransom for him. ✦ 8For the redemption of their life is costly, no payment is ever enough, ✦ 9that he should live on forever, that he should not see corruption. ✦ 10For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others. ✦ 11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever, and their dwelling places to all generations. They name their lands after themselves. ✦ 12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure. He is like the animals that perish. ✦ 13This is the destiny of those who are foolish, and of those who approve their sayings. Selah. ✦ 14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd. The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning. Their beauty shall decay in Sheol, far from their mansion. ✦ 15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah. ✦ 16Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; ✦ 17for when he dies he will carry nothing away. His glory won’t descend after him. ✦ 18Though while he lived he blessed his soul — and men praise you when you do well for yourself — ✦ 19he shall go to the generation of his fathers. They shall never see the light. ✦ 20A man who has riches without understanding, is like the animals that perish. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Luke 12 ·7Rev 2 ·5Ps 49 ·4Luke 16 ·4Ps 37 ·3Matt 13 ·3Ps 39 ·3Ps 73 ·3

Christ at the center

The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.

How Psalms 49 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryPsalms (Tyndale OT Commentaries)Derek Kidner · Paid · evangelical

    Concise, theologically rich, and wonderfully accessible — the best place to start on the Psalms.

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Psalms videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Psalms 49YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — Psalms 49David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on PsalmsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Psalms 49Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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