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... [ Continue Reading ]
Both low and high, rich and poor, together. Ver. 2. _Both low and high, rich and poor together_] Heb. Both sons of Adam, or earthy man, and sons of Ish, or nobleman _ quorum_ Ex meliore luto finxit praecordia Titan. Diogenes once made a like outcry at Athens, _Aκουσατε ανδρες_ _, Hear, O ye men;... [ Continue Reading ]
_My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart [shall be] of understanding._ Ver. 3. _My mouth shall speak of wisdom_] Heb. Wisdomns and understandings; and yet the matter of this psalm was nothing extraordinary for the main of it; so that a profane person would have come out with... [ Continue Reading ]
I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying upon the harp. Ver. 4. _I will incline mine ear to a parable_] _q.d._ I desire you to do no more than I will do myself. I believed, therefore have I spoken; I have wrought my doctrine upon mine own affections first, and shall dig it o... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, [when] the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? Ver. 5. _Wherfore should I fear in the days of evil?_] All the days of the afflicted are evil, Proverbs 15:15. But why should either I, or any other afflicted servant of God, be overly troubled, as... [ Continue Reading ]
They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; Ver. 6. _They that trust in their wealth_] Which was never yet true to those that trusted in it; and yet it is wondrous hard to have wealth, and not in some measure to trust in it; that is, to think ourselves si... [ Continue Reading ]
None [of them] can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: Ver. 7. _None of them can by any means redeem his brother_] And therefore all money that hath been given for masses, dirges, trentals, _A set of thirty requiem masses, said on the same day or on different days, ŒD... [ Continue Reading ]
Psalms 49:8 (For the redemption of their soul [is] precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) Ver. 8. _For the redemption of their soul is precious_] _i.e._ The price of life is greater than that any man, how wealthy soever, can compass it. Money is the monarch of this world, but not of the next. _ And i... [ Continue Reading ]
That he should still live for ever, [and] not see corruption. Ver. 9. _That he should still live for ever_] As every wicked man would, if it might be had for money; for he knoweth no happiness but to have and to hold; on the other side of the grave he looketh for no good; whereas a godly man holdet... [ Continue Reading ]
For he seeth [that] wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Ver. 10. _For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool_] This to be a truth, _etiam muta clamant cadavera,_ the dead corpses of both do preach and proclaim, by a dumb kind of el... [ Continue Reading ]
Their inward thought [is, that] their houses [shall continue] for ever, [and] their dwelling places to all generations; they call [their] lands after their own names. Ver. 11. _Their inward thought is, that their houses, &c._] Some join this verse to the former, and read the words thus: Whereas eac... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless man [being] in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts [that] perish. Ver. 12. _Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not_] Howsoever he think to eternalize himself, and be grown never so great, die he must, whether lord or lowly; and die like a beast, a carrion beast (unless he b... [ Continue Reading ]
This their way [is] their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. Ver. 13. _This their way is their folly_] This their fond conceit of an immortality is an egregious folly, fully confuted by every day's experience; for the longest lived person dies at last, as did (beside the anted... [ Continue Reading ]
Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling. Ver. 14. _Like sheep they are laid in the grave_] These fatlings of the world, these brainless young noblem... [ Continue Reading ]
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah. Ver. 15. _But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave_] Heb. from the hand of hell: _q.d._ I am, and shall be in far better condition both in life, at death, and after death, than any of the world's... [ Continue Reading ]
Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; Ver. 16. _Be not thou afraid_] David was comforted, and so he would have others to be; for as it was said of a certain bishop of Lincoln, that he held nothing his own but what he had bestowed upon others, _Hoc habeo... [ Continue Reading ]
For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. Ver. 17. _For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away_] Nothing but a shroud, as that great emperor caused to be proclaimed at his funeral. He was a fool that on his death bed clapped a piece of gold into his mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and [men] will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. Ver. 18. _Though whilst he lived he blessed his soul_] As that rich fool did, Luke 12:16,21, and that king of France, who, puffed up with the marriage of his sister to the king of Spain, called h... [ Continue Reading ]
He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. Ver. 19. _He shall go to the generation of his fathers_] _i.e._ To the grave, or albeit he come to the age of his fathers, that is, live here very long. _ They shall never see light_] Either have any sound comfort at death o... [ Continue Reading ]
Man [that is] in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts [that] perish. Ver. 20. _Man that is in honour and understandeth not_] _Versus amoibaeus._ See Psalms 49:12, there is but little difference; _Stultitiam patiuntur opes._ The more a man hath of worldly wealth, and the less of spiritu... [ Continue Reading ]