Psalms 49:14-15

But For The Upright There Is Hope. For Them There Is A Coming Morning and A Redemption (Psalms 49:14).

These two verses stand out on their own between the two ‘Selahs'. In them the fate of the unrighteous is contrasted with the of the upright. Once again we see in a Davidic Psalm his certainty that somehow God will not let him or the upright perish for ever. This is especially confirmed by the use of the term ‘redeem' (same root as Psalms 49:8). Here there is a redemption. It is wrought by God Who alone can pay the price that is required

Psalms 49:14

‘They are appointed as a flock for Sheol,

Death will be their shepherd,

And the upright will have dominion over them in the morning,

And their beauty will be for Sheol to consume,

That there be no habitation for it.

But God will redeem my life from the power of Sheol,

For he will receive me. [Selah

The truth is that just as sheep follow one another without thought wherever the shepherd leads, so all these men described are appointed as a flock for the world of the grave, entering it by following their shepherd Death, with no way of escape. And all their wealth and beauty will be for the grave to consume. In Sheol there is nowhere for their wealth and beauty to be stored.

But this is in contrast with the upright for whom there is to be a morning. ‘And the upright will trample over them (rule over them, triumph over them) in the morning', Had it not been for what follows we might simply have seen this as signifying that they would live on and enjoy fullness of life, but the mention of redemption from Sheol argues strongly that such a redemption is indicated for the upright. For them there will be a resurrection morning when at last they receive their reward and triumph over those who have spurned them. See Isaiah 26:19. We can compare how on our behalf Christ rose again from the dead and triumphed over those who assailed Him (Colossians 2:15)

This thought is confirmed by the certainty of the Psalmist himself that his soul will be redeemed from the power (literally ‘the hand') of Sheol, so that God will receive him. In the light of the previous mention of a redemption so costly that no wealthy man can finance it, the thought must surely be that God Himself can pay that price. The Psalmist is therefore confident that he will be received into the presence of God. He possibly has in mind how Enoch walked with God, and ‘God took him' (Genesis 5:22). A similar idea is in mind when Elijah was taken up into Heaven (2 Kings 2:11; 2 Kings 2:16). Both these examples indicated the possibility of the upright not finally dying. In view of the sacrifices that redeemed men from death it is not a great step from them to the possibility of a greater sacrifice that will redeem men from eternal death, but that is of course not mentioned here. It is, however, made more plain in Isaiah 53:10.

For the Christian the significance is even clearer. Through the offering of Christ once and for all, the greatest price that was ever paid (see 1 Peter 1:18), the truly believing Christian has been redeemed from the grave and has been guaranteed eternal life through the resurrection.