Focus Chapters:
- Psalms 47-49
- Psalms 84-85
- Psalms 87
Standout Verse(s):
Psalms 49:16-20 NLT
So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave. In this life they consider themselves fortunate and are applauded for their success. But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day. People who boast of their wealth don’t understand; they will die, just like animals.
Observation (s):
- In this lifetime, the rich is considered fortunate and applauded for their success.
In this life they consider themselves fortunate and are applauded for their success. But they will die like all before them and never again see the light of day.
- When the rich die, they take nothing with them.
So don’t be dismayed when the wicked grow rich and their homes become ever more splendid. For when they die, they take nothing with them. Their wealth will not follow them into the grave.
Application:
The world’s definition of success is staunchly different from God’s. We tend to estimate the worth of an individual by their net worth and the size and cost of their physical properties. Some of us often become discouraged when we see the wicked becoming extremely prosperous successes, gaining more and more wealth. We consider them to be fortunate and applaud their success while they boast of or flaunt their wealth. Our view of them and theirs of themselves are often the rationale behind the accepted tendency to deem these individuals better than us and worthy of a separate category. By the world’s standards, they are successful but by God’s standards they are not.
Chase wealth but do not allow yourselves to be consumed by it. The riches of the wealthy cannot spare him from death. Like all living things, there will come a day when the “successful” wicked dies and must face judgement. No matter how fancy their lives or the quantity of their possessions, they die just like all living things before them.