“I turn my ear to a proverb; I explain my riddle with a lyre. Why should I fear in times of trouble? The iniquity of my foes surrounds me. since the price of redeeming him is too costly, one should forever stop trying — so that he may live forever and not see the Pit. For one can see that wise men die; foolish and stupid men also pass away. Then they leave their wealth to others. A man with valuable possessions but without understanding is like the animals that perish.”
Psalms 49:4‭-‬5‭, ‬8‭-‬10‭, ‬20

One of the Sons of Korah wrote this psalm, which deals with the futility of life outside of God, not unlike the poetry book written bt King Solomon, King David’s son, named Ecclesiasties.
The writter here, sings out his “riddle” or “proverb” thru this, his song. He asks, “why should I fear in times of trouble?” Inadvertantly, the answer is “I will not fear”. He plainly states what we already know, that “the price of redeeming . . .is too high and we should stop trying”. In our words, “I owed a (sin) debt I could not pay.” By implication, the writer’s response to this predicament is to trust God, (same as he does in times of trouble) “so that he may live forever and not see the Pit.” (Vs 9) Good thing for us, on this side of the cross, is that Jesus has already paid for our sin problem when He died for us on the cross, so that ours, like this writer’s focus can be on eternity and things of eternal value, instead of temporary things.
This writer unpacks this thought thru the rest of his psalm. He says, “For one can see that wise men die; foolish and stupid men also pass away. Then they leave their wealth to others.” In other words, EVERYONE dies and leaves their earthly belongings to someone else. Rich and poor, wise and foolish, all die and you can’t take what you’ve accumulated in life with you unless what you’ve accomulated in life has eternal significance. He ends in vs 20 with a sobering thought: a rich dead man has no more value than a dead animal if he had no undestanding of God. Jesus said it this way, “Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19‭-‬21)
Jesus’ advise? Instead of collecting a bunch of destructable, temporary stuff that someone else will exploite after you die,
“seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (stuff you could have collected) will be provided for you.” (‬vs 33)
Jesus promises to provide for our needs, that why the psalm writer could say he wouldnt fear during difficult times. BUT, if we’ll seek Jesus, His Kingdom and what’s important to Him, He promises to give us the things that are important to us.
What’s your pursuit today?
Think about it!