The Second Sunday of Advent (Ps) December 9th

Psalm 49:1-20

¹  Hear this, all peoples! 

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 

²  both low and high, 

rich and poor together! 

³  My mouth shall speak wisdom; 

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding. 

⁴  I will incline my ear to a proverb; 

I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre. 

⁵  Why should I fear in times of trouble, 

when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, 

⁶  those who trust in their wealth 

and boast of the abundance of their riches? 

⁷  Truly no man can ransom another, 

or give to God the price of his life, 

⁸  for the ransom of their life is costly 

and can never suffice, 

⁹  that he should live on forever 

and never see the pit. 

¹⁰  For he sees that even the wise die; 

the fool and the stupid alike must perish 

and leave their wealth to others. 

¹¹  Their graves are their homes forever, 

their dwelling places to all generations, 

though they called lands by their own names. 

¹²  Man in his pomp will not remain; 

he is like the beasts that perish. 

¹³  This is the path of those who have foolish confidence; 

yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah 

¹⁴  Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; 

death shall be their shepherd, 

and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. 

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. 

¹⁵  But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, 

for he will receive me. Selah 

¹⁶  Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, 

when the glory of his house increases. 

¹⁷  For when he dies he will carry nothing away; 

his glory will not go down after him. 

¹⁸  For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed 

—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself— 

¹⁹  his soul will go to the generation of his fathers, 

who will never again see light. 

²⁰  Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish. 

Scientist have told me for years that humans are just animals.  Maybe they are right.  Maybe humans are just another mammal on the same level with Squirrels and Raccoons.  The Psalmist would seem to indicate that is all that humans are.  Humans in their pomp or celebration will not last; they are like beasts that perish.

All humans are like animals.  Sure people will often call Men pigs and women dogs.  But the truth is in our sinfulness we are all animals.  It is on account of our sinfulness we are belittled to the likeness of animals.  The Scientists must be right we are nothing more than just simple minded animals.

The truth is, we are without God.  Without God who has delivered us from our sinfulness we are just animals.  We are lost and condemned to be mindless beasts.  Without God to tell us what is right and wrong we would follow after our passions and perish like the beasts.  Who can ransom us from this eternal destruction?  God who comes to be one of us has ransomed us from this death.  

Jesus Christ dies to give us life.  He is beaten and treated like the beast, so that we can ride him to heaven. Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, but Christ Jesus has done this for you.  He makes you not an animal or beast of burden, but a son of the Most High.