Today's Video Devotion

Monday 10/23/23

Investing in Heaven

📺️ Psalm 49 🔊

¹Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:

 ²Both low and high, rich and poor, together.

 ³My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

 ⁴I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp.

 ⁵Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about?

 ⁶They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches;

 ⁷None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:

 ⁸(For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:)

 ⁹That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption.

 ¹⁰For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others.

 ¹¹Their 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.

 ¹²Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.

 ¹³This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah.

 ¹⁴Like 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.

 ¹⁵But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

 ¹⁶Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased;

 ¹⁷For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him.

 ¹⁸Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself.

 ¹⁹He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light.

 ²⁰Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: David, Asaph, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, Moses, and the Sons of Korah

Date Penned: (1440-586 BC)

Overview: Poetry for the Expression of Praise and Worship to God (c 1-150)

Theme: The Second Book of Psalms (c 42-72)

Message: Worldly Possessions are Futile (v 1-20)

Psalms 49 Commentary

(49:1) The Sons of Korah Speak on Worldliness - The futility of worldliness--riches, pride, fame- resounds from this psalm. Comparable in form to the book of Ecclesiastes, this psalm is one of the few written more to instruct people than to praise God. 

(49:7-9) Our Redeemer - In the slave market of the ancient world, a slave had to be redeemed or ransomed -someone had to pay the price in order for them to go free. In Mark 10:45, Ephesians I:7, and Hebrews 9:12, we learn that Jesus paid such a price so that we could be set free from slavery to sin in order to begin a new life with him. You cannot buy eternal life with God. Even if you give away millions to charity, you can't earn God's favor. Only God can redeem your soul; only he can pay the price. Don't make the accumulation of material wealth the purpose of your life. No amount of wealth can keep you from dying or buy your way into heaven. 

(49:10-14) Teasure in heaven - The rich and poor have one similarity: When they die, they leave all they own here on earth. At the moment of death (a moment all of us will face), both rich and poor are naked and empty-handed before God. The only riches we will have at that time are those we have already invested in our eternal heritage. At the time of death, each of us will wish we had invested less on earth, where we must leave it, and more in heaven, where we will retain it forever. To have treasure in heaven, we must place our faith in God, pledge ourselves to obey him, and utilize our resources for the good of his kingdom. This is a good time to check up on your investments and see where you have invested the most. Then do whatever it takes to place your investments where they really count.

Each day, we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making an application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Many applications can be made from each day's text. Today, we continue in the Book of Psalms with Chapter 49. In our text today, we see a theme of how trusting in worldly possessions is futile. You cannot take your possessions with you when you die, nor can you use your possessions to buy forgiveness from sin. In making an application, we see how investing our time and resources in temporal things on this earth will not profit us anything. I once heard a preacher say you never see a Hurst pulling a U-haul trailer. Instead of spending our days attempting to gain earthly wealth, we should spend our time reaching souls with the gospel, which will pay an eternal reward. How about you? Do you spend your time reaching earthly goals, or do you spend your time investing in the Kingdom of our Lord? Let us learn from our Psalm and text today to remember that we will leave our worldly possessions behind when we die as we go to meet Jesus face to face, so why not start investing in the kingdom by serving Him.