“For the redemption of
their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever—that he should continue to
live eternally, and not see the Pit,”—Ps. 49:8-9, NKJV
“A
man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that
perish,”—Ps. 49:20, NKJV
In
Psalm 49, the psalmist reminds man of their mortality and the fact that, though
they may amass great wealth and become prosperous on earth, they will
eventually die and their prosperity will be left to others. The psalmist
encourages us to consider our eternity and to remember that, though we may live
our lives in honor and prosperity, neither our morality nor our wealth will
save us from “the Pit.” “For the redemption of their souls is costly”—too
costly for us to purchase. “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the
grave, for He shall receive me,”—Ps. 49:15. Only God is able to redeem our
souls, through Christ crucified. Men may attempt to redeem their own souls,
through their own morality or by other ungodly means, or they may immerse
themselves entirely in the pleasures of the physical realm and ignore the
spiritual realm altogether, but they cannot avoid death—and what a wretched
eternity awaits those who have no spiritual foundation! “Though while he lives
he blesses himself (for men will praise you if you do well for yourself), he
shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light,”—Ps.
49:18-19. The only path to eternal life, the only means of spiritual redemption,
is Christ and Him crucified. Those who do not understand or accept this have no
hope for their eternity, but will surely perish, cut off from all that is pure
and good. “A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts
that perish,”—Ps. 49:20. Deliver your soul to the only One who can truly
save—let Jesus Christ secure it, for He has paid the price.
It is strange that Psalm
58, which is, essentially, a prayer for the destruction of the wicked, is “set
to ‘Do Not Destroy’” (see Ps. 58:title). But why does David desire the wicked
to be destroyed? Perhaps because he
desires destruction to cease.
Wickedness
invariably produces strife, chaos, and, yes, destruction. Most, if not all, of
the time, to end destruction, the root of the destruction must be destroyed. To
bring about peace, when humans are involved, there must first be war. On the
other hand, what is true destruction? Is it not generally defined as a laying
waste of something complete or good? Yes, in this context, as in many others,
the destruction spoken of is the result of wickedness—wickedness which must be
judged.
With
this outlook, David’s psalm being set to “Do Not Destroy” is completely
appropriate. He is pleading for wickedness to be eradicated—for strife to
cease, and peace to ensue.
“Surely the wrath of man
shall praise You; with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself,”—Ps.
76:10, NKJV.
In
and of itself, this verse is rather difficult to understand. How can “the wrath
of man” praise God, or be a garment of glory for Him? The cross-reference in my
NKJV Bible indicated Rom. 9:17, in which Paul quotes Ex. 9:16, “For the
Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For this
very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My
name may be declared in all the earth.’” This cross-reference puzzled me at
first, but then it struck me (I will leave to the interpretive reader to decide
what “it” was): the pervading theme of God’s dealings with Egypt, and
specifically the Pharaoh, was to “show His power” through signs and wonders,
exhibited only as a result of Pharaoh’s wrath
and hardness of heart. God’s tendency to reap good from evil, to thwart the
enemy by backfiring his own works against him, permeates all of Scripture, and,
indeed, our daily life. But although God is capable of turning evil purpose
into good outcomes, He still judges sin and prepares severe consequences for
sinners. As I said before, the reaping of good from evil, the use of men’s
wrath to praise God, is an offensive blow toward Satan, dealt upon him time and
time again, and, indeed, once and for all on Calvary. We, as Christians, should
certainly never challenge God to use our sin for good—abominable thought! God
never “uses” sin, but thwarts it, and
through its defeat, He is praised. “Surely the wrath of man shall praise You;
with the remainder of wrath You shall gird Yourself,” Ps. 76:10.
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