Thoughts for the Day

Hear this, all you peoples;
give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
rich and poor together.
My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the harp....

When we look at the wise, they die;
fool and dolt perish together
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes for ever,
their dwelling-places to all generations,
though they named lands their own.
Mortals cannot abide in their pomp;
they are like the animals that perish....

But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

Psalm 49 gives us a study in fleeting nature of earthly wealth and the fact that rich and poor are treated alike by God. The psalm addresses all people, regardless of their status. The author reminds us that the wise and the foolish, the rich and the poor, will all face the same fate, that of death. He argues the futility of trusting in material possessions, after all even the wealthiest individuals cannot bribe their way out of death, or secure eternal life for themselves or their loved ones, or indeed take their possessions with them. Centuries later Jesus was to caution his followers against the dangers of greed and the pursuit of earthly treasure (Matthew 6.19-21).

Years ago as a Diocesan Children's and RE Adviser I would go into schools in Worcestershire to look at the subject of death. I had noticed that whereas young children were curious where a dead bird had gone for instance, and I could use a variety of story books to speak of God's love for all creatures, it was different with teenagers. Indeed many were fairly freaked out by the thought of death. So I would start my lesson with a question. "What colour would death be, if it were a colour?" The obvious answer for many was "black", but some girls thought it would be "yellow" or "red" or "white" because of their culture. Most of these colours reflected mourning for a loved one. However, some with a faith in God did not see death as negative, and chose a rainbow of colours.. When we looked at music and death, the same rang true ranging from "death marches" to "hymns of praise".

In Psalm 49 the writer states with some conviction that God will ransom his soul from the power of Sheol (the place of the dead). As Christians that is exactly what we believe will happen to us, that Jesus died and rose again to rescue us from the power of death, and offer us eternal life. We may not understand the why's and wherefore's of this, it just requires us to live in faith that God will rescue us ultimately.

Almighty God,
whose Son, our Lord Jesus Christ
lived among us and who died for us,
help us to understand exactly what he came to offer -
forgiveness of our sin and life eternal.
Give us the courage to live a life worthy of Your Son,
until the day You call us home.
Amen.