A Road Map for Life | Remembering Our Redeemer Sample

THREE THINGS YOU CAN’T DO WITH MONEY (Psalm 49)

All of the Psalms point us in one direction - toward the Lord. Something fascinating to me is how God uses the Psalms to contrast His greatness with the littleness of this world.

For example, the previous psalm we studied begins with the words, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” We got a glimpse of how big our God is. Then, in Psalm 49, we are shown how small this life is and how insignificant our material things are. It is a great contrast between the temporal and the eternal, the material and the spiritual.

Verses 1-2: “Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: Both low and high, rich and poor, together.”

That last phrase is so beautiful. I remember as a child hearing someone say, “The ground is level at the foot of the cross.” Whether you are low or high in society’s estimation, we are all equally sinners in need of a Savior. Whether you are rich or poor is irrelevant. The question is whether you have the eternal riches that come from knowing the Lord Jesus.

Adrian Rogers used to say, "If you want to know how rich you are, add up everything money cannot buy and death cannot take away." Those are true riches. I think we live in a world of paupers, even though people are more materially wealthy than they have ever been. There is such a poverty of the soul.

Psalm 49 goes on to describe the wealthy in light of eternity, and it gives us three things you cannot do with your money.

1. You cannot trust it.

Verses 3-7: “My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp. Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.”

This passage reminds us that those who put all of their trust in their wealth are building on shifting sand. It is a foundation that will not last. Someday all of the money in the world is going to burn up. Even if it does last a while longer, you are not going to live on this earth forever.

I think most of us have lived long enough now to know that money comes and goes. As quickly as you receive something, it can be taken away. It can be some emergency, a poor business decision, or a health crisis — there are several different ways your material assets can be depleted.

Let me encourage you today to trust solely in the Lord. He alone is eternal.

2. You cannot trade it.

Verses 7-9: “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.”

It is impossible to exchange material wealth for spiritual riches. You cannot buy salvation or God’s divine favor. Do you really think the Lord needs our money? Absolutely not. He owns “the cattle upon a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10). The only reason we give our substance to Him is to honor and obey Him. God is the owner of it all; we are only the stewards of what He has put into our hands while on earth

We work hard to make money and buy things, then trade them for nicer and better things. But you cannot trade your stuff for the things that truly matter. The Bible says in James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”

The things that truly last cannot be purchased. They are gifts. According to Romans 6:23, “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

3. You cannot take it with you.

Verses 10-20: “For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 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. Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

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

Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.”

When prominent people die, invariably someone asks, “How much did they leave?” The correct answer is always the same: “All of it.”

According to legend, Alexander the Great instructed his advisors to place his open hands outside his casket when parading it through the streets after his death. He wanted everyone to know that, although he conquered the known world, he took none of it with him when he left.

You will not be taking any of your possessions into the next life. The only thing that matters is what you have sent on ahead and invested in eternity. All of your true riches are in Jesus Christ.

You can have your money and the things that go with it - there is nothing wrong with that. But if you have it without spiritual understanding, you are living like an animal — consuming all you can, then dying with nothing.

Ask the Lord to give you the kind of spiritual discernment to know what matters and what doesn’t. Ask God to show you what is eternal and what will pass away.

Look to Him today. Invest in eternity. Build your life on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ.