Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Psalms 49:15

Clarke's Commentary

Verse Psalms 49:15. But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave — מיד שאול miyad sheol, "from the hand of sheol." That is, by the plainest construction, I shall have a resurrection from the dead, and an entrance into his glory; and death shall have no dominion over me.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Psalms 49:0 When rich and poor face death

Rich and poor alike are asked to listen as the psalmist deals with a problem of life that concerns them both (1-4). The godly have no need to be anxious when the wealthy and powerful oppose them. After all, the wealthy cannot give their money to God to stop them from dying. Money cannot buy the right to live for ever. The wealthy also must die (5-9). Whether people be wise or foolish, rich or poor, they are no better off than the beasts when it comes to escaping death (10-12).
Although all are equal in having to face death, they are not all equal in what they have to face after death. Those who foolishly rely on their wealth will find it unable to save them from ruin and decay in the world of the dead. On the other hand, the godly, who do not look to wealth to save them from the power of death, will find that God himself saves them, and leads them into a future life of joy (13-15). A person need not, therefore, fear or envy the rich, for their wealth is not lasting. It cannot save them from future ruin (16-20).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

THE MIGHTY TRUTH REVEALED

“This their way is their folly; Yet, after them, men approve their sayings (Selah) They are appointed as a flock for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be for Sheol to consume, That there be no habitation for it. But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; For he will receive me.”

“Their way is folly… yet men approve their sayings” Men do not merely approve their sayings, they also approve their ways, their life-style, their attitudes, etc., and eagerly follow in the very patterns rich men have established, futile and foolish though they are.

“For Sheol… Death shall be their shepherd.” Dahood stated that there are no less than five designations for the realm of the dead in this one psalm. He followed the marginal alternative in Psalms 49:9, reading `Pit’ instead of `corruption,’ commenting that, “This is one of the five poetic names for Sheol in this Psalm.”Mitchell Dahood in The Anchor Bible, Vol. 1, p. 298. He even translated the words `in honor’ as `Mansion,’ a sarcastic word for the realm of the dead in Psalms 49:12; Psalms 49:20. Our version does not corroborate this.

The figure here is that the wicked shall descend like a great flock of sheep into the nether world, where Death shall be their shepherd!

Addis’ summary of these three verses is, “The wicked like the righteous die, but the righteous alone have the prospect of immortality.”W. E. Addis, p. 381.

“The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning” We might ask, `What morning’? and Rawlinson gives this answer:

“When the resurrection morning comes - and no other explanation seems possible (see even Cheyne) - it will bring them no release; the righteous will then `have dominion over them,’ and certainly shall not set them free (Revelation 21:8).”The Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 8, p. 379.

In this quotation, Rawlinson could not have meant that in the future life the righteous shall rule over the wicked or that they shall in some way control the wicked, but rather that their right of dominion in whatever the purpose of God may be shall be preferred `over’ and above that of the wicked whose destiny is the lake of fire.

“But God shall redeem my soul; from the power of Sheol; For He (God) will receive me” (Psalms 49:15).

Both liberal and conservative scholars alike have tried to surpass each other in extolling the glory and importance of these words:

• “Here is the solution to the `parable’ and the `dark saying’ (Psalms 49:4). The souls of the righteous will be redeemed, not by themselves, but by God. They will be delivered from the power of the grave (or Hades); while the ungodly shall be held under by Death and the grave (Psalms 49:14). The righteous shall be released from Death and will enter upon a higher life.”Ibid.

• “Here is the hope of faith that reaches beyond death, and in doing so overcomes death spiritually.”New Bible Commentary Revised, p. 482.
  

• “This is one of the rare references in the Old Testament to a belief in an afterlife.”The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. III, p. 258.
  

• “Clearly, the writer expected a resurrection from the dead. The notion that God’s children in the Old Testament had no hope in the resurrection is simply not the truth.”George DeHoff, Vol. III, p. 145.
  

• “Here the psalmist makes one of the few Old Testament confessions of faith in a meaningful afterlife. Others are Psalms 16:10; Psalms 73:24; Job 19:25-27; Daniel 12:2-3; and Isaiah 26:19).”The Layman’s Bible Commentary, Vol. 9, p. 84.
  

• “This is one of the mountain-tops of Old Testament hope.”Derek Kidner, Vol. 1, p. 182.
  

• “The psalmist here says, `I shall have a resurrection from the dead and an entrance into God’s glory; and death shall have no dominion over me.’“Adam Clarke, Vol. III, p. 377.
  

• “The text here rendered, `He will receive me,’ is just as accurately translated, `He will take me.’“H. C. Leupold, p. 386.
  

• “This is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament. The Hebrew word for `take’ (or `receive’) here is technical. It is applied in Genesis 5:24 to the translation of Enoch, and in 2 Kings 29f to the translation of Elijah.”W. E. Addis, p. 381.

Such a glorious witness of the Resurrection is, of course, challenged by unbelievers, some of whom have claimed that, “This verse refers only to premature death”; but as Leupold stated, “Such a view scarcely does justice to this text.”H. C. Leupold, p. 386.

Also, Addis cited another device employed to get around what is plainly said here. “They interpret the Psalm as the voice of Israel (the nation); individuals might perish, but not Israel, God’s Son. The language here, however, gives no hint of any such personification.”W. E. Addis, p. 381.

We cite another comment, unfortunately made by a man whom we consider to be a believer; but his comment seems to us to detract from the luster of this marvelous text. Yates wrote: “Psalms 49:15 is one of the clearest evidences of a hint of immortality in the Old Testament.”Wycliffe Bible Commentary of the Old Testament, Old Testament, p. 513.

Indeed, indeed! “A hint of immortality?” This reminds us of an incident that happened in Boston during the gang wars, an event widely publicized in the AP and the UP. A man opened up a bar; and one night several members of a rival `Mob’ raided the place, lined up six of the employees in the basement and executed all six with gun fire. In his interview with the police next day, the owner said, “I detect a hint of opposition in this”! In our view that hint resembles the one Kyle Yates mentioned!

A few other die-hards, unwilling to admit what the text here dogmatically declares, speak knowingly of damaged MSS, and defective text. However, Leupold put that type of objection to rest with his declaration, “That type of criticism is greatly exaggerated; true, difficulties exist; but the current translations are reasonably constructed.”H. C. Leupold, p. 381.

Our own personal view is that there was a much more widespread conviction in ancient Israel of the certainty of a resurrection than is usually admitted. The very brief, off-hand manner in which this glorious promise of the resurrection is treated in this psalm can be logically explained as being fully sufficient, no arguments in favor of it being necessary, due to the fact of such a conviction being general among all the people. “It must be that the hope of life with God was more real in Old Testament days than many commentators would allow.”Ibid., p. 386. That this was the general expectation of all Israel is indeed indicated by Hebrews 11:35. This does not deny that the New Testament light on this subject is far more adequate.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave - literally, “from the hand of Sheol;” that is, from the dominion of death. The hand is an emblem of power, and it here means that death or Sheol holds the dominion over all those who are in the grave. The control is absolute and unlimited. The grave or Sheol is here personified as if reigning there, or setting up an empire there. Compare the notes at Isaiah 14:9. On the word “redeem,” see the references in the notes at Psalms 49:7.

For he shall receive me - literally, “he shall take me.” That is, either, He will take me from the grave; or, He will take me “to” himself. The general idea is, that God would take hold of him, and save him from the dominion of the grave; from that power which death exercises over the dead. This would either mean that he would be preserved from going down to the grave and returning to corruption there; or, that he would hereafter be rescued from the power of the grave in a sense which would not apply in respect to the rich man. The former evidently cannot be the idea, since the psalmist could not hope to escape death; yet there might be a hope that the dominion of death would not be permanent and enduring, or that there would be a future life, a resurrection from the grave. It seems to me, therefore, that this passage, like the expression in Psalms 49:14, “in the morning,” and the passages referred to in the notes at that verse, is founded on the belief that death is not the end of a good man, but that he will rise again, and live in a higher and better state. It was this consideration which gave such comfort to the psalmist in contemplating the whole subject; and the idea, thus illustrated, is substantially the same as that stated by the Saviour in Matthew 10:28, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.”

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

15But God will redeem my soul The Hebrew particle, אך , ach, may be also translated, surely, or certainly. The psalmist had made a general assertion of the great truth, that the righteous shall have dominion in the morning, and now he applies it to himself for the confirmation of his own faith. This verse may, therefore, be regarded as a kind of appendix to the former; in it he makes a personal application of what had been said of all the righteous. By the word, the hand, is to be understood the dominion and power, and not the stroke, of the grave, as some have rendered it. The prophet does not deny his liability to death; but he looks to God as He who would defend and redeem him from it. We have here a convincing proof of that faith in which the saints under the Law lived and died. It is evident that their views were directed to another and a higher life, to which the present was only preparatory. Had the prophet merely intended to intimate that he expected deliverance from some ordinary emergency, this would have been no more than what is frequently done by the children of the world, whom God often delivers from great dangers. But here it is evident that he hoped for a life beyond the grave, that he extended his glance beyond this sublunary sphere, and anticipated the morning which will introduce eternity. From this we may conclude, that the promises of the Law were spiritual, and that our fathers who embraced them were willing to confess themselves pilgrims upon earth, and sought an inheritance in heaven. It evinced gross stupidity in the Sadducees, educated as they were under the Law, to conceive of the soul as mortal. The man must be blind indeed who can find no mention of a future life in this passage. To what other interpretation can we wrest the preceding verse, when it speaks of a morning altogether new and peculiar? We are sufficiently accustomed to see the return of morning, but it points us to a day of an extraordinary kind, when God himself shall rise upon us as the sun, and surprise us with the discovery of his glory. When the Psalmist adds, Assuredly God will redeem my soul ⁽²³⁰⁾ from the power of the grave, does he not contemplate a special privilege, such as could not be shared by all other men? If deliverance from death, then, be a privilege peculiar to the children of God, it is evident that they are expectants of a better life. We must not overlook, (what I have already noticed,) that the sure method of profiting by the divine promises is, to apply to ourselves what God has offered generally to all without exception. This is done by the prophet, for how could he have arrived at an assured promise of the redemption of his soul, except by the general fact known to him of the future glory awaiting the children of God, and by concluding himself to be amongst their number? The last clause of the verse runs in the Hebrew literally, for he will take me up Some, however, resolve the causal particle כי, ki, which we renderfor, into the adverb of time when, and the verb לקח, lakach, which we translate to receive or to take up, they translate to cut off, or take away from this world, giving to the passage this sense, When God shall have called my soul out of this world to himself, he will rescue it from the power of the grave. I am afraid that this is rather too strained an interpretation. Those seem to take a juster view of the words who consider that the future tense has been substituted for the perfect, and who retain the proper signification of the causal particle, reading, for he has taken me up The prophet did not consider that the ground of his hope for a better resurrection was to be found in himself, but in the gratuitous adoption of God who had taken him into his favor. There is no need, however, why we should suppose a change of tense, and not understand the Psalmist as meaning that God would redeem his soul from death, by undertaking the guardianship of it when he came to die. The despairing fears which so many entertain when descending to the grave spring from the fact of their not commending their spirit to the preserving care of God. They do not consider it in the light of a precious deposit which will be safe in his protecting hands. Let our faith be established in the great truth, that our soul, though it appears to evanish upon its separation from the body, is in reality only gathered to the bosom of God, there to be kept until the day of the resurrection.

(230) Soul is not here to be understood of the intellectual immaterial spirit. The Hebrew word נפשי, naphshi, my soul, is often put in the Old Testament Scriptures for the personal pronoun; and thus it means my person, myself, me. — See Appendix., Note on Psalms 16:10.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Psalms 49:1-20

Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: Both low and high, rich and poor, together. 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 dark sayings upon the harp ( Psalms 49:1-4 ).

So I am going to play my harp and accompany myself and I am going to give you some things to think about, some dark parables.

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 God a ransom for him: (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) ( Psalms 49:5-8 )

Now he is gonna play on his harp and give you some things to meditate and think upon. And first, concerning the rich people, those that have so much wealth. There are some things that money cannot buy. "They that trust in their wealth boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, with all of their money they cannot redeem their souls." You cannot buy salvation. "For the redemption of their soul is precious." Now Peter probably was thinking of this psalm when he wrote, "For we are redeemed not with corruptible things such as silver and gold from the empty life we used to live, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ" ( 1 Peter 1:18-19 ). "For the redemption of their soul is precious," the precious blood of Jesus Christ who was slain as a lamb without spot or blemish. You can't buy it. The redemption of a soul, man can't buy it.

Now the thought of the rich man is that he should still live forever and not see corruption.

For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perishes, and they leave their wealth to others ( Psalms 49:10 ).

Now, one thing about the money, and of course, he says here that,

Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; and so they call their lands after their own names ( Psalms 49:11 ).

Now, beware when people start naming places after themselves. It is sort of an endeavor to say, "Hey, I am going to live on forever, the perpetuating of my name." And so I have, you know, "Chuck Smith Center," and "Chuck Smith Recreation Hall," and "Chuck Smith Chapel," and "Chuck Smith University." Oh God, help us. I am glad He gave me such a dumb, common name as Smith so there will be no movement to name anything after Smith.

It is interesting how that people look up to certain people, and the values that the world has today. The value system. This past week I was over here in the parking lot near Sav-On drug store, and a little man was looking at me very carefully. And he came up to me and he said, "I know you." He said, "I watch you on television." And of course, I have a lot of people that come up and say that, you know, "I have been listening to your broadcast for years," or whatever. And so I meet a lot of people like this that come up and say, "Oh, I have been watching your program, or whatever, and aren't you Chuck Smith?" And you know, you get that. And so I said, "Oh, that's fine. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir." You know, what are you going to say? And so, as I turned to walk away, he says, "Goodbye, captain!" Boy, did the air go out of my balloon. The guy is watching Love Boat on Saturday nights instead of church on Sunday morning. We get funny ideas about ourselves.

"Their inward thought is that their houses will continue forever. Their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names."

Nevertheless man being in honor abides not: he is like the beasts that perish. This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings ( Psalms 49:12-13 ).

"Oh, do you know what he said?" You know, and you have a little book of quotations, "Chuck Smith said..." Oh God, deliver us.

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 revive me ( Psalms 49:14-15 ).

Now the wealthy, you know, their bodies are going to be consumed. Their beauty is in the grave, but God is gonna revive me.

Be not afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he will carry nothing away ( Psalms 49:16-17 ):

So the rich with their riches cannot redeem their souls, nor can they take it with them.

his glory shall not descend after him. Though while he lived he blessed his soul, (and men will praise thee, when thou do well to yourself,) He shall go to the generation of his fathers; and they shall never see light. Man that is in honor, and understands not, is like the beasts [brutish, foolish] that perish ( Psalms 49:17-20 ).

Man is like the beast. That is, a man who is not born again. For a man who is not born again is living in a body-conscious state, just like the beast. For that is what animal life is, a body-conscious life. All the animal is thinking about is his next meal or the procreation, and just following the basic body instincts. And man without God, without the spirit being made alive, is just like a beast. And like a beast, he will perish. But those who have been born again by the Spirit of Christ, who live and believe in Jesus Christ, Jesus said, "He that liveth and believeth in Me shall never die" ( John 11:26 ). God will revive my soul. I'll be dwelling with Him. "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

Psalms 49

The writer reflected on the problem that the prosperity of the wicked poses in this wisdom psalm (cf. Psalms 73). He observed that there are many ungodly people who enjoy many physical blessings. Still, he concluded that the righteous are better off because they have a sure hope for the future.

"The psalm is an encouragement to the godly who are haunted by the power and influence of the rich." [Note: VanGemeren, p. 366. See also Brueggemann, pp. 106-10.]

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Encouragement to trust in God 49:13-20

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

"The great But God . . . (15) is one of the mountain-tops of Old Testament hope." [Note: Kidner, p. 182.]

God will free the righteous from the power of the grave and will receive them on the other side of the grave. This is one of the Old Testament passages that reveal that believers living when the psalmist did had hope of life after death (cf. Job 19:25; Hebrews 11:10; et al.). [Note: See T. D. Alexander, "The Psalms and the Afterlife," Irish Biblical Studies 9 (1987):2-17.] Revelation of the bodily resurrection, however, was obscure until Jesus Christ’s resurrection and His apostles’ revelations on that subject (1 Thessalonians 4; 1 Corinthians 15).

"It is possible that the psalmist is looking at ultimate eschatological realities, anticipating his own resurrection and a time when the righteous, not the rich, will rule on earth. However, it is more likely that the ascendancy of the righteous refers to their vindication in this life, a well-attested theme in the Psalter, especially in the wisdom psalms (see, e.g., Psalms 1, 34, 37, , 112, as well as the discussion above). In this case Psalms 49:15 refers to God’s preserving the psalmist through ’evil days’ (cf. Psalms 49:5) by keeping him from premature, violent death at the hands of the oppressive rich and from the calamity that overtakes them. ’Morning’ (Psalms 49:14), which brings to mind the dawning of a new day after a night of darkness, aptly symbolizes the cessation of these ’evil days.’" [Note: Chisholm, "A Theology . . .," p. 285.]

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave,.... The psalmist expresses his faith, that though he should die, and for a while be under the power of the grave, yet he should be redeemed from it in the resurrection; which to the saints will be "the day of redemption", Ephesians 4:30; their bodies then will be redeemed from mortality, weakness, corruption, and dishonour, which attend them now, and in the grave; and which will, be in consequence of the redemption both of their souls and bodies, through the blood of Christ; see

Hosea 13:14; or the words may be rendered, "but God will redeem my soul from the power of hell"; and so the Targum,

"David said by the spirit of prophecy, but God will redeem my soul from the judgment of hell;''

that is, will keep and preserve from the second death, from being hurt by it, or from its having any power over him; and Christ, who is the Redeemer of his people, and who, being God over, all, is an able and mighty one, has redeemed the souls of his from wrath to come, hell, or the second death, by destroying sin, the cause of it, by satisfying the law, the administration of it, and by abolishing death itself; all which he has done by giving himself a ransom price for them, whereby he has procured the redemption which rich men, with all their gold and silver, could never obtain for themselves or others. The reason why the psalmist believed Christ would do this for him, follows;

for he shall receive me. Or, "for he hath received me" i; into his arms of love, into his grace and favour; which he does openly at conversion, and in the effectual calling; men being drawn to Christ by the cords of love, come to him, and are received by him, who casts none out; and the argument from hence is very strong, that such whom Christ receives by his grace, he will redeem from the grave, or raise at the last day to the resurrection of life: or, "for he will receive me"; as he does the souls of his people to glory at death, when, during their separate state, they will be happy with him, and takes their bodies into his care and custody; from whence it may be strongly concluded he will raise them up again at the resurrection morn, and then will receive them soul and body to himself, and present them to his Father, and introduce them into his kingdom and glory; wherefore, as in

Psalms 49:5, the good man has no reason to fear anything in the day of evil; for when it goes ever so ill with others, it is well with him. The Targum in the king's Bible is,

"he will lead me into his part or portion in the world to come.''

Selah; on this word, Psalms 49:5- :.

i יקחני "suscepit me", Tigurine version, Vatablus, Musculus, Gejerus.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      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.

      Good reason is here given to good people,

      I. Why they should not be afraid of death. There is no cause for that fear if they have such a comfortable prospect as David here has of a happy state on the other side death, Psalms 49:15; Psalms 49:15. He had shown (Psalms 49:14; Psalms 49:14) how miserable the dead are that die in their sins, where he shows how blessed the dead are that die in the Lord. The distinction of men's outward condition, how great a difference soever it makes in life, makes none at death; rich and poor meet in the grave. But the distinction of men's spiritual state, though, in this life, it makes a small difference, where all things come alike to all, yet, at and after death, it makes a very great one. Now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. The righteous has hope in his death, so has David here hope in God concerning his soul. Note, The believing hopes of the soul's redemption from the grave, and reception to glory, are the great support and joy of the children of God in a dying hour. They hope,

      I. That God will redeem their souls from the power of the grave, which includes, (1.) The preserving of the soul from going to the grave with the body. The grave has a power over the body, by virtue of the sentence (Genesis 3:19), and it is cruel enough in executing that power (Song of Solomon 8:6); but is has no such power over the soul. It has power to silence, and imprison, and consume the body; but the soul then moves, and acts, and converses, more freely than ever (Revelation 6:9; Revelation 6:10); it is immaterial and immortal. When death breaks the dark lantern, yet it does not extinguish the candle that was pent up in it. (2.) The reuniting of the soul and body at the resurrection. The soul is often put for the life; that indeed falls under the power of the grave for a time, but is hall, at length, be redeemed from it, when mortality shall be swallowed up of life. The God of life, that was its Creator at first, can and will be its Redeemer at last. (3.) The salvation of the soul from eternal ruin: "God shall redeem my soul from the sheol of hell (Psalms 49:15; Psalms 49:15), the wrath to come, that pit of destruction into which the wicked shall be cast," Psalms 49:14; Psalms 49:14. It is a great comfort to dying saints that they shall not be hurt of the second death (Revelation 2:11), and therefore the first death has no sting and the grave no victory.

      2. That he will receive them to himself. He redeems their souls, that he may receive them. Psalms 31:5, Into thy hands I commit my spirit, for thou has redeemed it. He will receive them into his favour, will admit them into his kingdom, into the mansions that he prepared for them (John 14:2; John 14:3), those everlasting habitations, Luke 16:9.

      II. Why they should not be afraid of the prosperity and power of wicked people in this world, which, as it is their pride and joy, has often been the envy, and grief, and terror of the righteous, which yet, all things considered, there is no reason for.

      1. He supposes the temptation very strong to envy the prosperity of sinners, and to be afraid that they will carry all before them with a high hand, that with their wealth and interest they will run down religion and religious people, and that they will be found the truly happy people; for he supposes, (1.) That they are made rich, and so are enabled to give law to all about them and have every thing at command. Pecuniæ obediunt omnes et omnia--Every person and every thing obey the commanding influence of money. (2.) That the glory of their house, from very small beginnings, is increased greatly, which naturally makes men haughty, insolent, and imperious, Psalms 5:16. Thus they seem to be the favourites of heaven, and therefore formidable. (3.) That they are very easy and secure in themselves and in their own minds (Psalms 49:18; Psalms 49:18): In his life-time he blessed his soul; that is, he thought himself a very happy man, such a one as he would be, and a very good man, such a one as he should be, because he prospered in the world. He blessed his soul, as that rich fool who said to his soul, "Soul, take thy ease, and be not disturbed either with cares and fears about the world or with the rebukes and admonitions of conscience. All is well, and will be well for ever." Note, [1.] It is of great consequence to consider what that is in which we bless our souls, upon the score of which we think well of ourselves. Believers bless themselves in the God of truth (Isaiah 65:16) and think themselves happy if he be theirs; carnal people bless themselves in the wealth of the world, and think themselves happy if they have abundance of that. [2.] There are many whose precious souls lie under God's curse, and yet they do themselves bless them; they applaud that in themselves which God condemns, and speak peace to themselves when God denounces war against them. Yet this is not all. (4.) They are in good reputation among their neighbours: "Men will praise thee, and cry thee up, as having done well for thyself in raising such an estate and family." This is the sentiment of all the children of this world, that those do best for themselves that do most for their bodies, by heaping up riches, though, at the same time, nothing is done for the soul, nothing for eternity; and accordingly they bless the covetous, whom the Lord abhors,Psalms 10:3. If men were to be our judges, it were our wisdom thus to recommend ourselves to their good opinion: but what will it avail us to be approved of men if God condemn us? Dr. Hammond understands this of the good man here spoken to, for it is the second person, not of the wicked man spoken of: "He, in his life-time, blessed his soul, but thou shalt be praised for doing well unto thyself. The worldling magnified himself; but thou that dost not, like him, speak well of thyself, but do well for thyself, in securing thy eternal welfare, thou shalt be praised, if not of men, yet of God, which will be thy everlasting honour."

      2. He suggests that which is sufficient to take off the strength of the temptation, by directing us to look forward to the end of prosperous sinners (Psalms 73:17): "Think what they will be in the other world, and you will see no cause to envy them what they are and have in this world."

      (1.) In the other world they will be never the better for all the wealth and prosperity they are now so fond of. It is a miserable portion, which will not last so long as they must (Psalms 49:17; Psalms 49:17): When he dies it is taken for granted that he goes into another world himself, but he shall carry nothing away with him of all that which he has been so long heaping up. The greatest and wealthiest cannot therefore be the happiest, because they are never the better for their living in this world; as they came naked into it, they shall go naked out of it. But those have something to show in the other world for their living in this world who can say, through grace, that though they came corrupt, and sinful, and spiritually naked, into it, they go renewed, and sanctified, and well clothed with the righteousness of Christ, out of it. Those that are rich in the graces and comforts of the Spirit have something which, when they die, they shall carry away with them, something which death cannot strip them of, nay, which death will be the improvement of; but, as for worldly possessions, as we brought nothing into the world (what we have we had from others), so it is certain that we shall carry nothing out, but leave it to others, 1 Timothy 6:7. They shall descend, but their glory, that which they called and counted their glory, and gloried in, shall not descend after them to lessen the disgrace of death and the grave, to bring them off in the judgment, or abate the torments of hell. Grace is glory that will ascend with us, but no earthly glory will descend after us.

      (2.) In the other world they will be infinitely the worse for all their abuses of the wealth and prosperity they enjoyed in this world (Psalms 49:19; Psalms 49:19): The soul shall go to the generation of his fathers, his worldly wicked fathers, whose sayings he approved and whose steps he trod in, his fathers who would not hearken to the word of God, Zechariah 1:4. He shall go to be there where they are that shall never see light, shall never have the least glimpse of comfort and joy, being condemned to utter darkness. Be not afraid then of the pomp and power of wicked people; for the end of the man that is in honour, if he be not wise and good, will be miserable; if he understand not, he is to be pitied rather than envied. A fool, a wicked man, in honour, is really as despicable an animal as any under the sun; he is like the beasts that perish (Psalms 49:20; Psalms 49:20); nay, it is better to be a beast than to be a man that makes himself like a beast. Men in honour that understand, that know and do their duty and make conscience of it, are as gods, and children of the Most High. But men in honour that understand not, that are proud, and sensual, and oppressive, are as beasts, and they shall perish, like the beasts, ingloriously as to this world, though not, like the beasts, indemnified as to another world. Let prosperous sinners therefore be afraid for themselves, but let not even suffering saints be afraid of them.