Today's Daily Bread

GOD WILL REDEEM ME

Date : Wednesday, July 08, 2026
Passage : Psalm 49:1~20
Keyverse : 15  
1
[For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.] Hear this, all you peoples; listen, all who live in this world,
2
both low and high, rich and poor alike:
3
My mouth will speak words of wisdom; the meditation of my heart will give you understanding.
4
I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound my riddle:
5
Why should I fear when evil days come, when wicked deceivers surround me -
6
those who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches?
7
No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them -
8
the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough -
9
so that they should live on forever and not see decay.
10
For all can see that the wise die, that the foolish and the senseless also perish, leaving their wealth to others.
11
Their tombs will remain their houses forever, their dwellings for endless generations, though they had named lands after themselves.
12
People, despite their wealth, do not endure; they are like the beasts that perish.
13
This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings.
14
They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions.
15
But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself.
16
Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases;
17
for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them.
18
Though while they live they count themselves blessed - and people praise you when you prosper -
19
they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life.
20
People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.
The psalmist understood the wisdom our Lord Jesus spoke of: “Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15b) and shared it with his readers. Wealth and riches are only neutral tools; they can be used for God-pleasing purposes. But love of wealth and riches is one of the strongest temptations that can trap us, and believers are not exempt from this temptation. However, genuine believers do not necessarily become poor. There are different reasons for poverty, and not all of them are commendable.

Our wealth cannot be our god. The rich and wealthy die as well as the poor, leaving their wealth to others (10). The mansions they were once proud of, will no longer be their houses; instead, dark tombs will become their “houses” (11).

Our life is God’s most precious gift, which cannot be redeemed by any amount of wealth or riches (7-9). Those who trust them are like beasts that lack understanding (12, 20). Only God is our Redeemer, who redeems us from the wages of sin, that is, death (15). The holy blood of his one and only Son shed on the cross for me is more precious than anything in the world.

Prayer: Father, thank you for being my Redeemer. You will receive me because I trust nothing but the blood of Jesus Christ shed for my sin. Amen.
One Word: “He will surely take me to himself”