Psalm 49:15: “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, / For He shall receive me. / Selah”

February 24th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

This is one of the greatest affirmations of trust and confidence in God in all the psalms. Someone said that this is the whole Gospel in 2 words: “But God.” All of humanity is dead, lost, bound, and held captive in prison. No one can buy their way out of death, “But God,” the only one who is capable of redeeming, made a way through Himself for us to be made alive, found, and set free. These 2 words, “But God,” appear 42 times in Scripture, and 17 of those times are found in the Apostle Paul’s New Testament letters. He wrote to the Ephesians:

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” (Eph. 2:1–5, italics added).

A. J. Gordon was the pastor of a church in Boston a century ago. One morning he saw a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, “Son, where did you get those birds?” “I trapped them out in the field,” the boy replied. “What are you going to do with them?” Gordon asked. “I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home.” Gordon offered to buy them, but the boy exclaimed, “Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well.” Gordon replied, “I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds.” “Ok, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain,” the boy said. The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue. The next Sunday he took the empty cage into the pulpit and used it to illustrate his sermon about Jesus coming to seek and to save the lost, paying for them with His own precious blood. “It was a thrill to let those birds fly away,” said Gordon. “And that little boy was wrong. He told me the birds could not sing. But when I released them and they winged their way to freedom, it seemed to me they were singing, ‘Redeemed, Redeemed, Redeemed!’”

“Thank You, LORD, for Your Redemption.”

=============================================================

Psalms 49 KJV

¹ Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: 

² Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

³ My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

⁴ I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

⁵ Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, whenthe iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

⁶ They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

⁷ None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

⁸ (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

⁹ That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

¹⁰ For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹ Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 

¹² Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³ This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. 

¹⁴ Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.  

¹⁵ But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.  

¹⁶ Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

¹⁷ For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

¹⁸ Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. 

¹⁹ He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. 

²⁰ Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.