Psalms 49:10-20

10 Anyone can see that the brightest and best die, wiped out right along with fools and dunces.

11 They leave all their prowess behind, move into their new home, The Coffin, The cemetery their permanent address. And to think they named counties after themselves!

12 We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

13 This is what happens to those who live for the moment, who only look out for themselves:

14 Death herds them like sheep straight to hell; they disappear down the gullet of the grave; They waste away to nothing - nothing left but a marker in a cemetery.

15 But me? God snatches me from the clutch of death, he reaches down and grabs me.

16 So don't be impressed with those who get rich and pile up fame and fortune.

17 They can't take it with them; fame and fortune all get left behind.

18 Just when they think they've arrived and folks praise them because they've made good,

19 They enter the family burial plot where they'll never see sunshine again.

20 We aren't immortal. We don't last long. Like our dogs, we age and weaken. And die.

Psalms 49:10-20 Meaning and Commentary

To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. Aben Ezra says this psalm is a very excellent one, since in it is explained the Light of the world to come, and of the rational and immortal soul; and Kimchi is of opinion that it respects both this world and that which is to come: and indeed it treats of the vanity of trusting in riches: of the insufficiency of them for the redemption of the soul; of the short continuance of worldly honour and substance; of the certainty of death, and of the resurrection of the dead. And the design of it is to expose the folly of trusting in uncertain riches, and to comfort the people of God under the want of them.