Week 8 Psalm 49
When you’re rich there’s a double-congratulation happening: a) rich people will consider themselves fortunate. And then b) the world loudly applauds their success. That’s on the one side. And there’s more to it: people who boast of their wealth don’t understand that they will die like the animals. If I’m enjoying my wealth but don’t understand how seriously limited it is then I’m basically like an animal.
If “A” but “B” then “C”.
I think about the A & B & C that the psalm lays out. I accept that it’s the case. And I also think three other ideas spin-off the main idea. Related – but unstated – principles. They are:
If a poor guy wishes he was rich and doesn’t care how undependable money actually is then he’ll die like an animal.
If a rich guy knows for-a-fact that his wealth isn’t reliable then he won’t die like an animal
If a poor guy isn’t scrabbling for cash because realizes that wealth is deceptively over-valued then he won’t die like an animal.
I can rely on the first idea. And I think the other three ‘principles’ that I doped out are probably legitimate too. But psalm 49 only actually says the first.
When I land on a verse that emphatically says something definite then I accept that definite something. (But I’m not so confident about implied somethings. Even if they look good. Better to put them on the back-burner for now.)
Note: quotes from Psalm 49:18a 18b 20 (NLT)