Psalm 49 may seem a little hard to understand, but the psalmist is talking to all people, believers and unbelievers. The message is simply that, though we are eternal beings (we will all live forever SOMEWHERE!), our bodies are not. Our bodies will one day give out and our spirit/soul combination will go somewhere. Believers will go to Heaven and unbelievers will not! The message is that there is nothing in this world that we will take with us! I would like to share this Psalm from the Message Bible:
1-2 Listen, everyone, listen— earth-dwellers, don't miss this.
All you haves
and have-nots,
All together now: listen.
3-4 I set plainspoken wisdom before you,
my heart-seasoned understandings of life.
I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise,
I solve life's riddle with the help of a harp.
5-6 So why should I fear in bad times,
hemmed in by enemy malice,
Shoved around by bullies,
demeaned by the arrogant rich?
7-9 Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue,
pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
and even then it doesn't guarantee
Life forever, or insurance
against the Black Hole.
10-11 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die,
wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
They leave all their prowess behind,
move into their new home, The Coffin,
The cemetery their permanent address.
And to think they named counties after themselves!
12 We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
13-15 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
16-19 So don't be impressed with those who get rich
and pile up fame and fortune.
They can't take it with them;
fame and fortune all get left behind.
Just when they think they've arrived
and folks praise them because they've made good,
They enter the family burial plot
where they'll never see sunshine again.
20 We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
All you haves
and have-nots,
All together now: listen.
3-4 I set plainspoken wisdom before you,
my heart-seasoned understandings of life.
I fine-tuned my ear to the sayings of the wise,
I solve life's riddle with the help of a harp.
5-6 So why should I fear in bad times,
hemmed in by enemy malice,
Shoved around by bullies,
demeaned by the arrogant rich?
7-9 Really! There's no such thing as self-rescue,
pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
The cost of rescue is beyond our means,
and even then it doesn't guarantee
Life forever, or insurance
against the Black Hole.
10-11 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die,
wiped out right along with fools and dunces.
They leave all their prowess behind,
move into their new home, The Coffin,
The cemetery their permanent address.
And to think they named counties after themselves!
12 We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
13-15 This is what happens to those who live for the moment,
who only look out for themselves:
Death herds them like sheep straight to hell;
they disappear down the gullet of the grave;
They waste away to nothing—
nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.
But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death,
he reaches down and grabs me.
16-19 So don't be impressed with those who get rich
and pile up fame and fortune.
They can't take it with them;
fame and fortune all get left behind.
Just when they think they've arrived
and folks praise them because they've made good,
They enter the family burial plot
where they'll never see sunshine again.
20 We aren't immortal. We don't last long.
Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.
That's just a little clearer and in plain language! Don't get caught up in the things of THIS world! Our future is eternity with our Lord if we have received Jesus of Nazareth as Lord and personal Saviour! Our time here is to be spent as a living witness to the Gospel of Jesus of Nazareth! If you have never received Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour, please go to the link at the left of this blog for the Spoken Word Church website and find out more about this! You WILL live for all of eternity in the place of YOUR choice! Please choose LIFE!
Acts 21 has Paul and others continuing on their journeys and sharing with the other believers about all that God was doing through the ministry. We again see Paul attacked and beaten, then arrested. Do you like a good suspense story? Well God must, too, because just as Paul is about to speak we see this:
40And when the man had granted him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, gestured with his hand to the people; and there was a great hush. Then he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying:
I bet you can't wait until tomorrow to find out what he said! Did you look ahead? You SHOULD! The Word is fascinating like that! Enjoy it and develop a real hunger for it! The Word of God IS our vital necessity!
We see pharaoh continuing to harden his heart in Exodus 7-8. I always find it hilarious that when pharaoh is given the choice as to when he wants to be delivered from the frogs, he says "tomorrow"! Why not right now? Amazing! The frogs are followed by lice and then by what the Amplified Bible calls "blood sucking gadflies". I don't know about you, but I would have let those people go a long time before this! THAT'S how a hardened heart responds to God! No sense at all! I think we have seen some pretty hard hearts in our world today! Let's keep praying for the Holy Spirit to soften those hearts so they can receive the Gospel! AMEN!
Shalom in Him!
