Let us not trust in our wealth.
“Even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches? No man can by any means redeem his brother Or give to God a ransom for him -- For the redemption of his soul is costly, And he should cease trying forever-” (Psalms 49:6-8).
Yesterday I read all of James Kennedy's book, “Freedom from Financial Fear”. The reason I bought the book was not only because the title caught my attention, but also because it was written by Pastor James Kennedy. After I finished reading the book, I summarized some of the challenges that I got. One of them was, ‘Tithing to God is not a matter of finance, but a matter of faith.’ And the problem of faith is that we don’t believe the promise of Malachi 3:10 that God gave to us: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.” As a result, not only do we not enjoy God's blessing in fulfilling the word of promise, but also we cannot enjoy freedom from economic fear. Rather, we have no choice but to live in anxiety and worry due to economic problems. However, the more serious problem is that not only we don’t believe the word of God's promise, but our wealth is being enriched even though we don’t offer tithing to God. The reason why this is a more serious problem is because our tendency is to rely on the abundance of our wealth. The big problem is not to make God our refuge (Ps. 52:7).
In Psalms 49, the psalmist is surrounded by his foes, and those foes are those who trust in their wealth and boast in the abundance of their riches (Ps. 49:5-6). These are foolish who don’t trust in God but in themselves (v. 13). They are foolish because they don’t realize that no matter how much money they have, they can't redeem other people's lives and that they can't give to God a ransom for them (v. 7). They don’t realize that the redemption of their soul is so costly that they should cease trying forever (v. 8). They don't realize that even if they have a lot of money and pay anything, they will not undergo decay and live on eternally (vv. 8-9). Also, the reason they are foolish is because they think that their houses are forever (v. 11). They don’t realize that when they die, they will carry nothing away (v. 17). They don't realize that they leave their wealth to others (v. 10). They don’t realize that no matter how satisfy they are in this world and are praised by many for their success, they will eventually die like their ancestors and never see life again (vv. 18-19). No matter how much they enjoy living in this world, what will it do? (v. 20) No matter how much they enjoy their wealth, they can’'t live forever (v. 12). Eventually, they are destined to die, so they will all die, and their form will perish (v. 14). They don’t realize that their graves will become their eternal home and will remain there endlessly (v. 11). Those who don’t realize this are like beasts that perish (vv. 12, 20). But the psalmist realizes and knows all this. The reason is that he has wisdom and understanding (v. 3). And he knows that God will accept him and redeem his soul from the grave, the power of death (v. 15). Therefore, he is telling us all to hear and listen (vv. 1-2). This is what he says to us: “Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased” (v. 16).
We are not to be fools who trust in our wealth. We must not be like beasts who don’t realize it. We must realize that God paid too much price for our redemption, that is to save our souls from the power of death. What did He pay for our redemption? Jesus, the begotten Son of God, was cursed for us and redeemed us from the curse of the Law (Gal. 3:13). God redeemed all our sins by the death of His begotten Son on the cross (Heb. 2:17, Ps. 130:8). We have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, in the Son of God (Col. 1:14). We have become freely justified by the grace of God through the redemption in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24), and we have received the adoption as sons (Gal. 4:5). Thus we are redeemed without money (Isa. 52:3). God has redeemed us by the crucifixion of His only Son, Jesus, and has saved our souls from the power of death (Ps. 49:15). Therefore, we must trust in God. We must make God our stronghold and our power of salvation (52:7).
Not wanting to set my heart upon riches (62:10) but trust in God with all my heart,
James Kim
(As I seek God’s wisdom and understanding)