Psalms 49-Why Fear?

God has use of the poor; He also has use of the rich. He attempts to lift the former as He tries to woo the latter. In God’s economy both have space; the poor one is down and so must be lifted up while the rich one is often satisfied and in need of little hence must be wooed. For God desires the heart of both.

Psalms 49 mainly dwells on the rich. Its final verse summarises the lessons we can draw from it. This treasure-trove of scripture proffers a life-skill that many a modern man, with his exaggerated capitalist mind-set can scarce understand. It says;

People who have wealth but lack understanding
are like the beasts that perish. Vs 20

Like the fellow who listens to a good sermon and all the while wishes that his neighbour could be there to be rebuked by the preacher’s word so am I tempted to say, ‘ I wish our politicians could read this’.

What does the verse mean and where does it lead us? What does it mean to have wealth but lack understanding? For answers let us look at the rest of the chapter in stages. Lets start with verses 5-6

Why should I be afraid
    in times of trouble,
    when I am surrounded
    by vicious enemies?
⁶They trust in their riches
    and brag about
    all of their wealth.. vs5-6 (CEV)

Why should I fear fellow men seems to be the question? Men may have power over us or gain unrestricted access into our affairs simply because they are wealthy but why should I fear if I honestly believe that the God I serve is much more powerful?

I recall one time in my career when a tension-filled restructuring process was going on and in the course of daily work, I declined a request from a particularly abrasive senior manager. The following day he summoned me to his office and demanded to know why I was not following ‘orders’. I was ticked off but what could I do? Don’t some say that to be employed is to be a slave? I had no voice here. I stood there and made some meek noises as this towering giant of a man lectured me for what seemed an eternity. As he wound up, he delivered the final blow;

‘You should know that I hold your future in my hands!’ he roared.

I stared at him blankly and slinkered away. I had no words. After all it was indeed true that the sword of Damocles had been hanging over our department for some time. I went to the restroom and prayed quietly. I figured that God would hear me.

Comments

How I Received My First False Prophecy For 2024-Part I

At the turn of every year, we have a long-standing family tradition of sitting down to flip through T.V. channels. We watch various ministers and performers with different groups of people ushering in the new year in style (with my wife- the children now prefer to be outside blasting those darn fireworks) . However, even after years of midnight sofa-slouching, I still can’t decide who between the ministers and the performers say the most outrageous things. For some reason, the moment seems to turn every charismatic minister worth his salt into some kind of prophet. Pastors, evangelists, apostles, and even the odd comedian feel compelled to utter a 'word' or two for the new year. Often, t hese 'prophetic moments' are highly charged interludes with MOGs & WOGs (Men & Women Of God) giving 'ecstatic utterance' as their listeners rapturously respond with 'Amen!' and ‘I receive!’ This is all good and okay. The problem, however, is that these pr...

How I Received My First False Prophecy For 2024-Part II

At the turn of the year, our popular comedian, Churchill ‘partnered’ with the equally popular songbird Christina Shusho, to deliver what was to be an epic cross-over combo of comedy and music. I was a little confused when he started the show with a barrage of popular ‘prophetic’ pronouncements. Like a proper Kenyan, I dutifully (sic) received mine. It went something like this; “This is the year of your double portion!” And just like that, I received my first false prophecy of 2024. The scriptures have several guardrails around prophecies. First, because those who proclaim them often invoke the Name of God. And God doesn’t like to be misrepresented. Secondly, people generally take prophecies seriously and shape their lives around what has been spoken. Thirdly, there can be at least three sources of revelatory words: The Holy Spirit of God (2 Peter 1:21) The human mind (Jeremiah 14:14*) Evil spirits (Acts 16:16-18, 1 John 4:1) Therefore, it is impor...

Earth Is Hard, Pick Your Hard -I

What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer ……. Are we weak and heavy-laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Saviour, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer (you can read or listen to the poem/hymn Here! ) Joseph Scriven’s adult life was marked with tragedy. First, he had to give up a promising military career due to ill health. Then he lost his fiancée in a drowning accident. To deal with his sorrow, he sailed away to a distant land to seek a fresh start. There he fell in love again but as fate would have it, he lost his second fiancée to pneumonia. Thereafter, devoted himself to helping the destitute around him. He became known as “the man who saws wood for poor widows and sick people who are unable to pay”. It was during this time of sad memories and humble service that he wrote this poem to encourage his a...

WordToday

Search This Blog