Psalms 49:1

Hear this,.... Not the law, as some Jewish writers (l) interpret it, which was not desirable to be heard by those that did hear it; it being a voice of wrath and terror, a cursing law, and a

Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world: The enigma solved, why the ungodly prosper while the godly are persecuted.

Psalms 49 THE This Psalm is penned upon the same occasion with Psalms 39 Psalms 73, to wit, upon the contemplation of the afflictions of God’ s people and of the prosperity and glory of ungodly men The design is to justify God’ s providence in this dark dispensation, and to show that, all things being considered, good men have no cause for immoderate dejection of spirit, nor wicked men for glorying in their present felicities. The psalmist having stirred up all men to attention, , showeth their vain trust in riches, ; and the contrary trust of the faithful in God, ; exhorteth them not to fear the prosperity of the wicked, for it cannot deliver him from the grave, . All ye people, Heb. all people; Jews or Gentiles; for all are concerned in this matter, as being apt to stumble and murmur at it.

Psalms 49:1 « To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. » Hear this, all [ye] people; give ear, all [ye] inhabitants of the world:Ver. 1. Hear this, all ye people] This that is of so great consequence and universal concernment, viz. that the saints should not be frighted nor perplexed at the present prosperity of graceless persons; but consider that death at utmost shall render them extremely miserable, and at the day of judgment men shall return and discern a manifest difference between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not, Malachi 3:18. Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world] "Hear, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken it," Jeremiah 13:15. The inhabitants of the world, Heb. of the transitory world, are like men in a mill, through hurry of business; or as one that is running a race, to whom, though never so good counsel be given, he cannot stay to hear it. Of such we use to say, that they hear with their harvest ears (harvest is a time of great pleasure, and great business), and hence it is that we have so ill a seedtime for the word. We had need to wish, as Harding once did, that we could cry out against sin as loud as the bells of Oseny; yea, as those catholic preachers, whose voice is heard in all speeches and languages, Psalms 19:3.

(1) Hear this.—For the opening address, comp. Deuteronomy 32:1; Micah 1:2; Psalms 50:7; Isaiah 1:2. World.—As in Psalms 17:14; properly, duration. (Comp. our expression, “the things of time.”)

PSALM XLIX All men are invited to attend to lessons of wisdom relative to the insufficiency of earthly good to save or prolong life; to secure the resurrection frown the dead, 1-9. Death is inevitable, 10. The vain expectations of rich men, 11-13. Death renders all alike, 14. The psalmist encourages and fortifies himself against envying the apparently prosperous state of the wicked, who are brutish, and die like beasts, 15-20. NOTES ON PSALM XLIX The title, To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah, has nothing particular in it; and the Versions say little about it. One of the descendants of the children of Korah might have been the author of it; but when or on what occasion it was made, cannot now be discovered. The author aimed to be obscure, and has succeeded; for it is very difficult to make out his meaning. It is so much in the style of the Book of Job, that one might believe they had the same author; and that this Psalm might have made originally a part of that book. "It seems," says Dr. Dodd, "to be a meditation on the vanity of riches, and the usual haughtiness of those who possess them. As a remedy for this, he sets before them the near prospect of death, from which no riches can save, in which no riches can avail. The author considers the subject he is treating as a kind of wisdom concealed from the world; a mystery, an occult science with respect to the generality of mankind." Dr. Kennicott has given an excellent translation of this Psalm, which is very literal, simple, and elegant; and by it the reader will be convinced that a good translation of a difficult passage is often better than a comment. Verse 1. Hear this, all ye people] The four first verses contain the author's exordium or introduction, delivered in a very pompous style and promising the deepest lessons of wisdom and instruction. But what was rare then is common-place now.

1–4. A solemn introduction, addressed to men of every nation and every class, emphasising the importance of the Psalmist’s theme.

Hear this, all ye people - That is, What I am about; to utter is worthy of universal attention; it pertains equally to all mankind. The psalmist; therefore calls on all the nations to attend to what he is about to say.

1. People… inhabitants of the world—The subject is of world-wide concern, and the psalmist invites attention accordingly.