Psalm 49:10

Psalm 49:10

Who gets it in the end?

The Psalms often contrast the righteous and the wicked, as we have seen. Here the same categories of people are in view, but they are described as the wise and the foolish. And of course, it is true that the wise die! It is equally true that the foolish and the senseless also perish. Everyone does! Anyone who has eyes in their heads can see this. When the wise die they leave their wealth to their successors and so do the foolish, there is no difference in the outcomes of either group of people. We all die. We all leave our assets to others who follow us. End of!

So, what is the point that the psalmist is making? I think that it is simply that if you live with the aim of accumulating wealth and possessions and looking out for yourself, then life is a complete waste of time. The wise person may well accumulate wealth too, but they have at least lived for a greater purpose, they have served others and made much better use of their allotted time. Their life counts for a lot more than just a pile of earthly goods, accumulated and lost. There is nothing more to show for lives that are lived that way. 

Jesus told the story of a man who became very rich and who kept building bigger barns to house his abundant crops. His plan was to amass enough wealth to take life easy; to eat, drink and be merry. God called him a fool and warned that his life would be taken from him that very night. All the things that he had prepared for himself would instead be given to others. Luke 12:16-21. That’s the point you see. In God’s world of justice, even if we spend a lifetime storing things up for ourselves, others eventually get them!! So, the destiny of possessions for the wise and the foolish is exactly the same. But if we use them wisely while we are here at least we get a choice about who benefits! 

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