Year 5, Day 194: Psalm 49

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Discipleship Focus: Ambition, Appetite

• Appetite: We all have needs that need to be filled.  When we allow ourselves to be filled with the people and things that God brings into our life, we will be satisfied because our In will be in proper focus.  But when we try to fill ourselves with our own desires we end up frustrated by an insatiable hunger.
• Ambition: We all need a goal to which we can strive.  When our ambition comes from God, we find fulfillment in our obedience into that for which we have been equipped because our Out is in proper focus.  But when our ambition comes from ourselves, we find ourselves chasing after our own dreams and trying to find fulfillment in accomplishments of our own making.

Psalm 49 is inherently a psalm of subtle mourning.  There are two things towards which the psalmist points us when he looks toward humanity and its perspective on life: wealth and legacy.  Neither of which will last forever, certainly not beyond the grave.

The primary focus of this psalm is about the futility of chasing after money.  Almost every human who has ever lived has felt that pull.  We all wish we had a little more to spend.  We all wish that we had more influence.  We just want the next threshold until we make it, and then we want the next one.  If we aren’t careful, our human existence is all about our appetite and our pursuit of wealth.  But the psalmist has it right.  Don’t fear when a person becomes rich, because he can’t take it with him.  when we die, how much money we have access to will have no impact upon our eternal standing with God.

The question that remains, then, is what is worth thirsting after that will last beyond the grave?  Find that answer and then pursue it with all your heart!

The psalmist also talks about reputation and station within this psalm.  He speaks about people who have enough land or influence so that a place is named after them or in their memory.  Many of us have the ambition of legacy.  Many of us want to be remembered into eternity because of our greatness in thought.  But what’s the point of that?  Can even our legacy extend beyond the grave?  Will our human fame influence God’s judgment over our life?

Again, the question of ambition remains.  What is worth pursuing that will last beyond the grave?  Discover that answer and you will truly have an ambition worth pursuing!

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