Riches Can’t Bribe Death

Psalm 49:1-9

For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.

1Listen to this, all you people!

Pay attention, everyone in the world!

2High and low,

rich and poor—listen!

3For my words are wise,

and my thoughts are filled with insight.

4I listen carefully to many proverbs

and solve riddles with inspiration from a harp.

5There is no need to fear when times of trouble come,

when enemies are surrounding me.

6They trust in their wealth

and boast of great riches.

7Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death

by paying a ransom to God.

8Redemption does not come so easily,

for no one can ever pay enough

9to live forever

and never see the grave.

France is one of the least religious nations on earth today. Though the country is officially 90 percent Catholic, few of those 90 percent regularly participate in any sort of organized religious activity. One of the people who contributed to the demise of religious fervor in France is Voltaire. This eighteenth-century French philosopher waged a written war against “superstitions” like believing in God. Voltaire did contribute some valuable ideas to the study of science and history, and the church of his day certainly deserved some criticism, but he helped to set a tone of disbelief that permanently affected his country and the entire Western world.

Voltaire’s writings, such as the satire Candide, were extremely popular in his day, making him a very wealthy man. Yet a story is told about Voltaire on his deathbed. Reportedly he told his doctor, “I will give you half of all I have if you will give me six months more to live.”

Of course, the doctor couldn’t do that. Even today, while the rich may buy the latest medical technology to keep their bodies going a bit longer, they can’t cheat death forever. When God says it’s quitting time, your life on earth is done. And, as Psalm 49:7 tells us, all the money in the world can’t bribe God. So don’t place your trust in riches. Place it in God himself, who offers us life through his Son.

From David’s lips this word did roll,

‘Tis true and living yet:

No man can save his brother’s soul,

Nor pay his brother’s debt.

MATTHEW ARNOLD, BASED ON Psalm 49:7

Notable Quotable

“Wealth may deceive us into thinking we are self-reliant.”

DAVID ALLAN HUBBARD