Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;
Be not afraid or envious when a person grows rich and the splendor of his house increases, but trust in God instead. It is a warning against the self-confidence and pride of the wicked, setting their end over against the future of the righteous when redeemed from the grave. Riches are vain and cannot redeem a soul, for they cannot be carried through death and earthly glory does not follow a person beyond it, but is left to others and heirs. Wealth merely kept or spent on self-glory and pleasure brings no lasting good or readiness for the world to come, in contrast to giving glory to God and doing good while there is opportunity.
Meaning and Setting
Do not be afraid or envious when a person is made rich and the honor, prosperity and glory of his house are increased, but trust in God. Wealth is vain and cannot redeem a soul, it cannot be carried through death, and earthly glory and riches do not follow a person beyond the grave but pass away and are left behind. Worldly ambition, fame and an honored name give no answer to what comes after death, so life must be weighed in light of God and the place beyond, and fear of the rich and covetous desire for their wealth and possessions, which cannot secure their owners from death nor preserve them, are forbidden. The command stands within a warning against the self-confidence and pride of the wicked, setting their end over against the future dominion of the righteous when redeemed from the grave.
The psalm is one in which the psalmist calls all the earth to hear him. It is numbered among psalms that speak to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives, giving encouragement and assurance of divine help and confidence of final deliverance from persecutors. The glory of a house can in one sense consist in riches, and riches kept for self-glorification and lavished on personal pleasure stand opposed to giving glory to God. The wider passage in Psalm 49:6-20 shows that the life of every living creature, including human beings, depends on the breath of life given by God and is not immortal or deathless in itself.
Why Riches Warrant No Fear
Riches warrant no fear because wealth is empty and powerless to buy back a soul from death. No increase of money or of household honor is cause for dread or envy, since riches cannot be taken through death and earthly glory does not follow its owner beyond it. The rich die and leave possessions and piled-up fortunes behind to others and to heirs. Wealth and the splendor of houses cannot shield their owners from death nor keep their goods in their hands, and for that reason the psalm stands as a warning against covetousness.
Worldly ambition is answered by the same truth, for wealth, fame, and an honored name settle nothing about what comes after death, so life must be weighed in the light of God and the place beyond. Riches cannot hold back death or supply lasting meaning to life, nor do they secure a cherished memory among others, and a life spent heaping up possessions without God ends in emptiness. One may spend a lifetime grasping for more, only to die and leave the accumulated fortune to heirs, with little more than a tomb to show for it. Amassed riches cannot be carried beyond death, and wealth that is only kept brings no abiding good and no readiness for the world to come.
Poor sons of the soil, whose lot is sorrow and toil, must not envy or fear those made rich in glory and gold by the sweat of the poor and the blood of the bold. The proud rich will moulder to dust side by side with them, for death joins the children of toil and of sloth as worms feed on both alike. Time withers all earthly things, so that in a hundred years knight and shepherd, minstrel and scholar, emperor and soldier are dust alike. The life and end of hoarders prove that such wealth does not last. Men bent all their lives on getting and heaping up, with minds full of how to gain more, become unable to impart to others, so that even on paper they cannot give away what they guarded all their days and their wills fail to carry out their intentions.
At death the spade and the shovel hand their accumulations over to others, for they are owned, the eye of the Owner is upon them, and a dry time is at hand when, willing or unwilling, they will be drained and dug out and appropriated. It is therefore better to do good as opportunity comes than to hoard and leave usefulness to an unconscious future that only impoverishes the world by such a life. Glory of a house can in one sense consist in riches, yet riches spent to glorify self and lavished on personal pleasure stand opposed to giving glory to God.
Be not afraid or envious when a person grows rich and the splendor of his house increases, but trust in God instead. It is a warning against the self-confidence and pride of the wicked, setting their end over against the future of the righteous when redeemed from the grave. Riches are vain and cannot redeem a soul, for they cannot be carried through death and earthly glory does not follow a person beyond it, but is left to others and heirs. Wealth merely kept or spent on self-glory and pleasure brings no lasting good or readiness for the world to come, in contrast to giving glory to God and doing good while there is opportunity.
Meaning and Setting
Do not be afraid or envious when a person is made rich and the honor, prosperity and glory of his house are increased, but trust in God. Wealth is vain and cannot redeem a soul, it cannot be carried through death, and earthly glory and riches do not follow a person beyond the grave but pass away and are left behind. Worldly ambition, fame and an honored name give no answer to what comes after death, so life must be weighed in light of God and the place beyond, and fear of the rich and covetous desire for their wealth and possessions, which cannot secure their owners from death nor preserve them, are forbidden. The command stands within a warning against the self-confidence and pride of the wicked, setting their end over against the future dominion of the righteous when redeemed from the grave.
The psalm is one in which the psalmist calls all the earth to hear him. It is numbered among psalms that speak to the sorrows and afflictions of the Hebrew captives, giving encouragement and assurance of divine help and confidence of final deliverance from persecutors. The glory of a house can in one sense consist in riches, and riches kept for self-glorification and lavished on personal pleasure stand opposed to giving glory to God. The wider passage in Psalm 49:6-20 shows that the life of every living creature, including human beings, depends on the breath of life given by God and is not immortal or deathless in itself.
Why Riches Warrant No Fear
Riches warrant no fear because wealth is empty and powerless to buy back a soul from death. No increase of money or of household honor is cause for dread or envy, since riches cannot be taken through death and earthly glory does not follow its owner beyond it. The rich die and leave possessions and piled-up fortunes behind to others and to heirs. Wealth and the splendor of houses cannot shield their owners from death nor keep their goods in their hands, and for that reason the psalm stands as a warning against covetousness.
Worldly ambition is answered by the same truth, for wealth, fame, and an honored name settle nothing about what comes after death, so life must be weighed in the light of God and the place beyond. Riches cannot hold back death or supply lasting meaning to life, nor do they secure a cherished memory among others, and a life spent heaping up possessions without God ends in emptiness. One may spend a lifetime grasping for more, only to die and leave the accumulated fortune to heirs, with little more than a tomb to show for it. Amassed riches cannot be carried beyond death, and wealth that is only kept brings no abiding good and no readiness for the world to come.
Poor sons of the soil, whose lot is sorrow and toil, must not envy or fear those made rich in glory and gold by the sweat of the poor and the blood of the bold. The proud rich will moulder to dust side by side with them, for death joins the children of toil and of sloth as worms feed on both alike. Time withers all earthly things, so that in a hundred years knight and shepherd, minstrel and scholar, emperor and soldier are dust alike. The life and end of hoarders prove that such wealth does not last. Men bent all their lives on getting and heaping up, with minds full of how to gain more, become unable to impart to others, so that even on paper they cannot give away what they guarded all their days and their wills fail to carry out their intentions.
At death the spade and the shovel hand their accumulations over to others, for they are owned, the eye of the Owner is upon them, and a dry time is at hand when, willing or unwilling, they will be drained and dug out and appropriated. It is therefore better to do good as opportunity comes than to hoard and leave usefulness to an unconscious future that only impoverishes the world by such a life. Glory of a house can in one sense consist in riches, yet riches spent to glorify self and lavished on personal pleasure stand opposed to giving glory to God.