Morning Manna | Pslams 49:15 | God will redeem my soul

Psa 49:15  But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.

Psalms 49 addresses All people, rich and poor, young and old, As he says in verse one "All ye inhabitants of the world." The reason it is addressed to all people is because it is about something that affects all people, death. Death is often understood to be the end of something. For the beast of the field, it is the end, for the flowers that fade it is the end of their life but for men, death is not the end, it is just the beginning. God created us in his image and "made man a living soul." Men differ from the rest of creation in that we are living souls, I hate to break it to you but your beloved pet won't be in heaven, when FiFi dies she ceases to exist. Men, on the other hand, have an eternity waiting for them just on the other side of the grave. 

It does not matter the wealth you amassed here in your life, not a single cent will pass from this life into the next. Many of the rich men in this world have proven to be among the poorest in the world to come. Recall the rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day, in hell he couldn't afford even one drop of water. Likewise, Lazarus who was miserably poor in this life found an eternity of happiness on the other side of the grave. 

What makes the difference then? Not all rich men go to hell and not all poor men go to heaven. Our Pslam gives us the answer, redeemed souls have hope beyond the grave, and they will be received into everlasting habitations. Redeemed means to be bought back, as a slave who has been sold into the trade and there is now a redemption price to be paid for his/her freedom. The Lord did not just forgive us, but he Redeemed us from the power of the grave, meaning that there was a price to pay. What is the grave but the wages of sin and therefore the price for sin is death, that was the high price set for our redemption, death. That is the price Jesus paid, He died in our place, Yet death had no power over him because he had no sin. Three days later he was resurrected "as the firstborn of the Resurrection." The grave had no power over him and therefore it has no power over us. That is how our souls were redeemed from the power of the grave, we who were once dead are now made alive and death has lost its power over us. 

"For he shall receive me." How can I be sure that he will receive me? David was sure in his statement, can we be? Of course, we can, and should be. David's faith was rooted in the promise of the resurrection, he trusted that God would fulfill this promise of resurrection, and being that his faith was settled on God's promise it was as sure as the foundations of the world because they both were established on the same premise, God's word. The Resurrection was a hope of Jobs, "For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: [Job 19:25-26]. A hope of Abraham "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." [Hebrews 11:19]. Daniel also had the hope of a Resurrection "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." [Dan 12:2]. Here in this verse, we see that it was a hope of David's as well. All these men looked forward to a day when by Resurrection, the promises that they had not seen fulfilled in their life would be fulfilled in the life to come. That is to say that death does not quench the promises of God or his word and therefore we have for the foundation of our faith something that all the deaths in the world cannot shake, God's Word.

As Daniel told us, All will rise. Some to everlasting life and some to everlasting contempt. The only thing the redeemed soul has with the lost soul is that both are everlasting. If you are not sure you are in Christ, then I would not rest until I was sure that I could say with boldness, "He shall receive me." He will receive you, here is a promise to act upon, " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." Come to him and he will receive you. May the Pharisee's murmurings embolden you to come, "This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them."