God Will Ransom My Soul

Father in heaven, you are so kind. You are merciful, and gracious, and slow to anger. You are rich in love. I praise you. Now I ask, God, that you would use the truths from your Word, from this Psalm, this morning, to transform your people; please mold us to be more like Jesus, I ask. And may the truth that we learn from this Psalm, may it cause us to love you more. Amen.

There are two overarching themes in this Psalm, if you could sum them up, here they are:

#1: Everyone is going to die, no matter how much money or power you have, you’re going to die.

#2: You cannot rescue yourself from the eternal death that you deserve, but God will rescue you.

As we examine this Psalm, we sort of get the sense that the Psalmist wants us live like we know we’re going to die. There’s something about the possibility of death that gets us to think more deeply.

In fact, researchers from the University of Virginia, have studied people who have had near-death experiences, they estimate apx. 5% of population has had a profound experience where they came very close to death. One of the most common results of someone having had a near-death experience is that is dramatically changes the way they live.

These people are almost always more spiritual, they are almost always less likely to seek power, or prestige, or fame than they would have compared to their previous selves; they tend to be less competitive; they seem to be more peaceful, their priorities change significantly; when your death is more real to you, it changes the way you live. Maybe that’s why Tim McGraw famously sang: “Someday I hope you get the chance, to live like you were dying.”

Well, it’s no surprise that the author of Psalm 49 wants to emphasize the fact that death is coming for all of us. Look at verse one with me:

Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
both low and high,
rich and poor together!

The Psalmist here is saying, “Listen up, pay attention, If you are living in this world, no matter what category you’re in, I’ve got something you’ll want.”

Low or high, rich or poor, male or female, Republican or Democrat, Black, White, Latino, Asian, Vikings fan, Packers fan. It doesn’t matter, “listen up, this applies to you!” That’s the sentiment in these opening verses.

The Problem We All Face

Then in verse 3, he says, “I’m going speak some wisdom.” Then in verse 4, in essence, he says, “I’m going to solve a riddle.” And, apparently, it’s a riddle that everyone needs to have answered. Then he begins to unpack this riddle, or this problem, that the author intends to address. Look at verses 5 and 6:

Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?

So, apparently, the author is observing unethical people all around him, and they happen to be wealthy people who cheat, He’s saying, “There’s this group of unethical or immoral people all around, they’ve got lots of wealth and lots of resources.

But, here’s the thing, while these people are wealthy, they don’t have enough money to solve the problem that this Psalmist is about to address. And here’s the problem, we cannot rescue ourselves from death. Here’s what he says, look at verse 7:

Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
for the ransom of their life is costly.

This is problem that we all face, death is coming for us all, and none of us can rescue ourselves, no one has enough money to ransom themselves from the punishment that awaits. Not even the wealthiest people on the planet have enough money to buy their way out of this problem.

Now, in verse 10 he goes back to emphasizing that this applies to all peoples, this applies to the “wise” and the “foolish” people, we all face the same predicament. Then in the next verse he unpacks the problem, look at verse 11:

Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,

We’re starting to get a very dark and grim picture of death! The problem is, the grave is going to be my home forever. Now, look at the last line of verse 11:

though they called lands by their own names.

The Psalmist here is alluding to people who spend lots of energy trying to have their names remembered long after their dead, people who name stuff after themselves, seeking to build a legacy. They behave, as if, being famous will somehow soften the blow that will be dealt when death comes knocking, but these efforts are futile. Look at verse 12:

Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.

Human beings, even with all of our “pomp” and circumstance, we cannot save ourselves, we can name estates after ourselves, and we could even be famous on this planet, but we’re still going die, just like the animals die. At the end of this Psalm in verse 20, the author repeats this sentiment, look down at verse 20:

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

No matter how brilliant you are or how creative you are, no matter what you’re able to accomplish in this life, if you do not have the right “understanding” you’re not any better off, than animals, just like animals cannot avoid death, neither can we. Death is coming for us!

I remember the first time I really thought about death, I remember it quite vividly, actually. I was 6 years old, I was at my uncle’s funeral, my uncle Rey had died, my dad’s younger brother, my uncle Rey was only 27 years old. His funeral was the first funeral I can remember attending in my life. And I remember being at the viewing and my dad took me up to the casket to say goodbye to my uncle. And my instinct was to reach out and touch him, I touched his forehead, and it was cold. It startled me, I literally recoiled and took a few steps back. And that was the moment it hit me, he’s not there. He’s gone. And then, another though hit me, “that’s going to be me one day!”

The Reality of Death

The reality of death smacked me in the face. And instantly, I was filled with fear. This unbearable feeling of fear just gripped me. And for several years after that, every time I thought of death, fear gripped me. And I remember that throughout my childhood I asked people about death, and no one could give me a good answer. The one that most sticks out to me was in 7th grade, I was 12 years old. I asked Mrs. Carr, she was my junior high homeroom teacher. I asked her what happen to you when you die? She said to me, “Kenneth, in polite company, you should never talk about religion or politics. And that question falls under the topic of religion.” I just remember thinking, “that’s a lame answer.”

Well, about a year later, at age 13, I came to faith in Christ. And I remember, when I became a Christian, for the first time, that fear of death was alleviated. For the first time I could think about death without freaking out inside.

And then, I remember thinking back to moments in my life where the topic of death would come up and people would brush it off, like it wasn’t going to happen. And I’ve had so many moments like that over the years. I’m sure some of you have experienced this.

Whenever the topic of death comes up, people often just shrug it off or they try to change the subject, I’ve heard people say things like…“Oh come on, let’s not talk about sad things like that.”

According to a recent CBS News poll: 54% do not want to talk about death, 31% somewhat willing to talk about death, 14% say they are willing to talk about death. This pretending that it’s not going to happen does not make it go away. Death is one of the most important aspects of life. It’s something we should indeed think about.

How to Approach Death

So, if we’re all going to face death, and if we want to have a proper understanding of death, that provokes a question, What happens when we die?

Hebrews 9:27

It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

So, you should expect to stand before God to be judged. And friends, hear this, if your sins have not been forgiven, that judgment, it will not go well for you.

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:12

Sin came into the world through one man, [Adam], and death [came] through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death.

Matt 25:46 tells us that some people will be condemned to suffer “eternal punishment.”

Revelation 21:8 tells us that sinners will be thrown into “the lake that burns with fire and sulfur” and in Revelation 14:11 we read that the smoke of those condemned will go up forever, “the smoke of their torment [shall] ascends up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day [or] night.”

Psalm 49:14

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.

Heb. 10:31

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The idea of dying and facing God should terrorize you because when you die, you will face God, and he will judge you, and he will demand payment for your sin, he’s going to demand a certain ransom, and as we saw in Psalm 49:7, none of us have enough money to pay the debt that is owed.

But God!

The idea of dying ought to be a frightening reality! Unless, of course, if someone has already paid your debt! And that’s exactly what God promised to do in this Psalm. Look at Psalm 49:15:

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

For the bulk of this Psalm the author has been telling us that we’re going to die, and the grave will consume us, and that we don’t have enough resources to buy our way out of this predicament.

He’s painted a grim picture, but then, here in verse 15, he says: “BUT GOD.” These two words: “BUT GOD.” These are two very powerful words. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said this: “’But God!’ These two words, in and of themselves, are kind of an epitome, or summary, of the content of the gospel.”

Yes, we are sinful, but God will intervene to atone for our sins.
Yes, it’s true, we cannot save ourselves, but God, will save us.
Yes, death is coming for us, but God, will protect us.
Yes, it’s true, we cannot ransom ourselves, but God will ransom us!
God will be the one who pays the price to rescue me!
And that changes EVERYTHING!

Mark 10:45

The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Romans 4:25

“[Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Titus 2:14

“[Christ] gave himself for us to redeem us.”

Galatians 3:3

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.”

1 Thess. 5:10

“[Jesus] died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.”

1 Peter 3:18

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

We Shall Live Forever

And now that we have been ransomed, we can face death very, very differently. We will still physically die, all of us, but for the Christian, physical death is very different. We will live forever!

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:36

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life.”

John 6:37

“Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”

John 6:40

“Everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 10:27-28

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

In John 11:25-26

“[Jesus said]: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

We cannot ransom ourselves, we don’t have what it takes, “But God!” We may physically die, but we will live forever with Jesus, in glory. And because of this, we face death much differently!!!

The 17th century Bible commentator, Matthew Henry: “He whose head is in heaven need not fear to put his feet into the grave.”

Thomas Brooks, he was 17th century Puritan preacher: “A Christian knows that death shall be the funeral of all his sins, his sorrows, his afflictions, his temptations, his vexations, his oppressions, his persecutions. He knows that death shall be the resurrection of all his hopes, his joys, his delights, his comforts, his contentments.”

The apostle Paul says… “to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

1 Thess. 4:12-13

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

Romans 14:8

For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

We will all physically die, death is coming for us. But Christian, believer, you have no reason to be afraid, because God has ransomed your soul. This is why we can sing those lyrics from the song we sang a few minutes ago:

Death was once my great opponent
Fear once had a hold on me
But the Son who died to save us
Rose that we would be free indeed!

This is why we can sing those great lyrics from “In Christ Alone”:

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life’s first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny.

Death Has Lost Its Sting

The last verse I want to read this morning is probably the most famous verse from the apostle Paul talking to death. He’s sort of trash talking, sort of like a man trash talking on the basketball court, but he’s not boasting in his own abilities, he boasting in Christ.

1 Corinthians 15

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

It’s like he’s saying: “Hey death, where you at?”

I don’t know if anyone has ever experienced this, have you ever been talking to someone before a game or an event, and they’re talking a big game, “I’m going do this” and “I’m going to do that.” But then you get out on the court, and they get beat real bad, and it’s like, “Uh? Really? That’s all you got.” That’s sort the sentiment here. Death talks a big game, but gets beat, and Paul is exposing that, and highlighting that.

It’s as if Paul is saying, “Hey death, What was that? You were going to be my shepherd? Oh really? And, what was that, you were going to ‘consume’ me? Oh really? And what was that, you were going to overwhelm us and we were going to perish like the beasts? What was all that junk you were talking? Huh?”

1 Corinthians 15:55-57

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

To paraphrase Paul, “Hey death, where’s all that pain you were going to bring?... Death, you ain’t got nothing on me, because God has ransomed my soul!”

Death has lost its sting. It no longer reigns over us, because Christ ransomed our solus. And that’s why we come to this table each and every week, to celebrate what Christ has done. To celebrate the reality that Christ has ransomed our souls.