Psalms 49
Dear RTB’ers,
Today’s Psalm 49 reads more like a Proverb than a Psalm: Let’s not fret over the wealthy, the powerful and what they can do to us; death awaits them, just like anyone else. Even the wise and the foolish die and leave their wealth to others. Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away… (vv. 16-17a)
I have a sad tendency that whenever I see the words “fool” and “foolish”, my immediate reaction is a mental image of “them”, whoever they may be. That is, I do not number myself alongside “them”. Then, almost as quickly, I catch myself and realize that I am certainly among the foolish – maybe not as foolish today as I have been in the past, but clearly foolish – all too often trusting in my own efforts and not seeking God enough. In the end, when it’s all said and done, I number myself with the apostle Paul and his own confession: So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. (Romans 7:21-25) Or, “Foolish man that I am…”! Sad.
Blessings!
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