Rich in Faith

What money cannot buy

For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.

Psalm 49

1 Hear this, all you peoples.
Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3 My mouth will speak words of wisdom.
My heart will utter understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb.
I will solve my riddle on the harp.
5 Why should I fear in the days of evil,
when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6 Those who trust in their wealth,
and boast in the multitude of their riches—
7 none of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give God a ransom for him.
8 For the redemption of their life is costly,
no payment is ever enough,
9 that he should live on forever,
that he should not see corruption.
10 For he sees that wise men die;
likewise the fool and the senseless perish,
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,
and their dwelling places to all generations.
They name their lands after themselves.
12 But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.
He is like the animals that perish.

13 This is the destiny of those who are foolish,
and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.
14 They are appointed as a flock for Sheol. Death shall be their shepherd.
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,
far from their mansion.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.
16 Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,
when the glory of his house is increased;
17 for when he dies he will carry nothing away.
His glory won’t descend after him.
18 Though while he lived he blessed his soul—
and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19 he shall go to the generation of his fathers.
They shall never see the light.
20 A man who has riches without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.

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The psalmist finds peace and contentment in a world full of iniquity. He finds it in God’s wisdom as he solves a riddle on his harp. This picture of contentment and satisfaction is contrasted with the foolishness of trusting in riches. His song of contentment slides right into criticism of those who name lands after themselves only to go to the grave and take nothing with them.

I remember hearing that 1980s televangelist, Robert Tilton, saying this of riches: “God isn’t against you having things! He is against things having you!” It wasn’t many years after that that Tilton lost his family, lost his ministry, and lost his reputation as he was seeking first the kingdom of Robert Tilton. And it really is a tragedy because I remember when he was actually a pretty good preacher.

I spent a good bit of my life hovering below and above the poverty line. But I have never felt poor. God has always been our source, even when He comes through just in the nick of time. After a while you just stop being afraid. I remember sitting in my car, looking at my frayed, leaky sneakers and asking God if it was really too much for me to have a decent pair of shoes. Just then someone knocked on the window and presented me a box with brand new sneakers in it. And they fit! Yes, this really happened. And things like that happened quite often.

I have not racked up a big bank account, but I do have a great deal of faith. I think I am the person that James was talking about when he said, “Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5).

Riches can make you proud and presumptuous, especially when God doesn’t ever enter your equation. America is fabulously rich on the surface, but we are the greatest debtor nation in the world. Presuming upon the future is our national pastime. We create money just by moving a decimal point, without giving a thought to how it reduces the value of everyone’s money.

Even though America is a house of cards, it is in a neighborhood full of such wretched structures. The whole community of nations pursues money without pursuing the wisdom of God. Self-destructive behaviors are the rule, not the exception. The Europeans have been wrecking their nations with unrestricted immigration from hostile nations. They have set aside nothing to protect themselves from foreign Invaders, depending almost entirely on the US to keep them safe. They have stopped having children, and turned their cathedrals into museums. The whole world is on the verge of collapse and doesn’t know it because they do not know God, and they do not know the history of mankind in relationship to Him.

Matthew 24:37 “As the days of Noah were, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ship, 39 and they didn’t know until the flood came and took them all away, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

I know all of this and I am still at peace. That is because I am ready, and I am already inside the ark. I am abiding in Christ and living on His Word. Man does not live by bread alone.