Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
February 26, 2012
This morning we continue our sermon series on redemption. There are three basic ways that the Bible talks about
redemption, three facets to it. Redemption is what is required for sinners to enjoy God’s favor, to enjoy God’s
family, and to enjoy God’s freedom. And over the last three weeks Pastor Larry has taken us through each of these
facets of redemption. Three weeks ago we looked at the book of Leviticus and the sacrificial system. Then we
looked at Jesus, our alternate sacrifice, through whom we sinners can actually enjoy the abundant favor of a holy
God. And as a simple, practical exercise to remember this facet of redemption and remember the sacrifice given
for us we took Communion together.
Two weeks ago we looked at the book of Ruth, and looked at Boaz and Obed's function as kinsman redeemers,
extending God's family and restoring God's family. And we looked at the hesed, the steadfast loyal love that you
see in that story with Ruth and Boaz, with Naomi. And then we looked at Jesus, our alternate kinsman redeemer,
whose hesed, whose steadfast loyal love was poured out for us on a cross, through whom God's family is being
restored, being extended. And as a simple, practical exercise to remember our redemption and to be refreshed in it
we talked about speaking to God as “Our Father”, addressing Him the way that Jesus taught His disciples to pray,
simply when we pray addressing God as “Our Father”, remembering that indeed through the cross and through the
blood of Christ we are His children.
Last week we looked at redemption as deliverance from slavery and into God's freedom, and we looked at Exodus
and God redeeming Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and just the power of God that you see in that story. And then
we looked at the power of God in Christ Jesus redeeming us, delivering us from slavery to sin and death. We have
been freed from our slavery to sin, and that we no longer bear the guilt of our sin...that's been paid for. And it
doesn't even have the same grip on us that it used to, because in Christ we've been made new creatures and we
have that wonderful promise of full redemption, that one day sin will no longer even have a presence in us or
among us. And as a simple, practical way to remember that, we talked about memorizing Psalm 130:7-8.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with Him is plentiful redemption.
And He will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.
This week our text will deal with this third aspect of redemption—deliverance from slavery into freedom—though
we'll eventually touch a little bit on all three of these aspects. Last week we dealt primarily with deliverance from
slavery to sin. This week our text will look at deliverance from slavery to death. Our text this morning is Psalm 49.
But before we jump into the text, I’d like to talk just a little about genre. The book of Psalms is a collection of songs,
a collection of God-inspired songs. And one of the beautiful things about the book of Psalms is just the variety of
different songs that you find. There are history songs, there are songs of praise and thanksgiving, there are songs
of prayer and supplication, songs of confession and repentance, songs of lament, and there are wisdom songs,
songs that were written with the express intent of imparting wisdom, of giving understanding; and Psalm 49 is one
of these. It's a wisdom song. Now, the genre of wisdom is not unique to the book of Psalms; you find it elsewhere
in church history. In fact, one of the earliest collections of Christian songs that we have is a book called the Odes of
Solomon. It was written around 125 AD, and it's just a collection of early Christian hymns. There are songs of
praise, and there are songs of prayer, and there are wisdom songs. One of my favorite of these is Ode 3, which
ends with the phrase, “Be wise and understanding and vigilant. Hallelujah!” which I think is just a terrific last line for
a song. “Be wise and understanding and vigilant. Hallelujah!” The genre of wisdom song is not even unique to
church music; you find it in secular music, too. The 1960s North American folk revival produced a lot of songs in
this genre. Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changing” would be a classic example, very much self-consciously
written as a wisdom song. But the exciting thing about Psalm 49 is that it's part of the canon of Holy Scripture. It's
not just a wisdom song, but it's the Word of God. It's wisdom that we can trust with our lives. So let's look at what it
has to say.
Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
www.wasillabible.org
Psalm 49 begins with a call, an address.
Hear this, all peoples! Give ear, all inhabitants of the world.
This is actually a fairly typical way to begin a wisdom song. It's not a required aspect of the genre, but you run into
it a bit. Actually, “The Times They Are A-Changing” begins with a call. “Come gather ‘round people wherever you
roam.” Psalm 49 pretty much begins much in a similar fashion. “Hear this all people, all who dwell on the earth,
both the low and high, and the rich and the poor.” He's essentially saying, 'Hey everyone, listen up! I'm going to
impart wisdom,' which is the next verse.
My mouth shall speak wisdom; the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
So he's given his call to listen up, he's stated his intent, and then in verse 4 he tells us how he's going to speak
wisdom.
I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
So he's going to speak wisdom, he'll do it in song to the music of the harp or the lyre, and he's going to do it by
means of two things—a proverb (a wise saying or statement) and a riddle (a perplexing question or situation). He
begins with the riddle.
Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those
who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?
He presents this question, this situation, then he answers it with a wise statement, a proverb.
Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is
costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit.
He doesn't need to fear when those are cheap, when those around him are trusting in their wealth, because
ultimately those who are surrounding him, they won't prevail. They won't live forever. They can't avoid the grave,
the pit. Larry talked about this last week; he said that we are all slaves to death. We will all die. We can try and
distract ourselves from this fact, we can try and ignore it, but we can't escape it. We are slaves to death; it goes
back to...our sin goes back Genesis 3. After Adam sinned God tells him, “You are dust, and to dust you shall
return.” As a consequence of sin, we all die. Romans 5:12 says “Sin came into the world through one man, and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…” We are slaves to death, and we cannot
free ourselves from that; we cannot pay our ransom. The word 'ransom' here in verse 7 is also rendered “redeem”
in many translations, because it's clearly a concept of redemption that the psalmist is talking about here. We
cannot redeem ourselves or another. We cannot pay what is required to free us from death, just as Jesus says in
Matthew 16:26 “What shall a man give in return for his life?” The psalmist goes on...
For he sees that even the wise die; the fool and the stupid alike must perish and leave their wealth
to others.
End then verse 11 is kind of a difficult verse to translate. The Hebrew manuscript reads “Their inward thought was
that their homes were forever”, but a lot of the early translations read “Their graves are their homes forever.” The
ESV has the Hebrew reading in a footnote. I can see both sides, but I definitely lean toward the footnote reading on
this verse because of the thought flow in the psalm. He's talking about those who trust in their wealth, and he's just
said in a previous verse that they see that all alike must perish, and that there's no one on this earth who would, in
their right mind, say they're going to be able to avoid death, they're not going to die. But yet these people are still
trusting in their wealth. Their inward thought is that they still can have some sort of permanence, that their homes
were forever, their dwelling places for all generations. They even call lands by their own names. But...
Man in his pomp will not remain; he is like the beasts that perish. This is the path of those who
have foolish confidence; yet after them people approve of their boasts.
Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
www.wasillabible.org
Those who trust in their wealth, it’s a foolish trust, a foolish confidence. For no amount of money can suffice to
redeem our lives, to save us from death. Now, the typical counter argument to this is, 'Ok, money cannot save me
from death, money cannot redeem me fully in that way, but money can redeem me somewhat in this life. It can
give me some security and some contentment in this life. In that sense it can partially redeem our lives.' That's
often a counter argument. But Jesus in Luke 12:15 is fairly clear that life does not consist in the abundance of
possessions. It does not consist in our material wealth. And He tells a very interesting parable in Luke 12. He
says,
“The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have
nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger
ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have
ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’”
It's an interesting parable. He's not necessarily looking for money to save him from death. He's looking for money
to give him some comfort in this life. And to be honest, when we read this it doesn’t sound all that unreasonable to
us. His business did well and prospered. He had an abundance, so he built larger barns to store his grain and his
goods, and he retired early to enjoy a comfortable life. Is this not the American dream? But how does God
respond?
“But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have
prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich
toward God.”
To trust in wealth is a foolish confidence; it is a false sense of security. For this life, for the life to come, it's a false
sense of security. It's a false confidence.
In verse 5 the psalmist presented us with a riddle. He said,“Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity
of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches?”
And he answered by explaining that he doesn’t need to fear because all will die, including those who cheat him,
those who are foolishly trusting in their riches to save them. But he has only partially answered the riddle at this
point. It’s clear that he doesn't need to fear these people. But what about death? Should not he fear death? Didn't
he himself say that all alike must perish, even the wise will die? He will answer the rest of the riddle in the following
verses.
Speaking of those who trust in their wealth he says,
Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol [which is the Hebrew word for the place of the dead];
Death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall
be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
This is the first time the 'upright' appear in the psalm as a character, and we're not told too much about them other
than that they will rule, and that they are contrasted with 'those who trust in their wealth'. So obviously, they're
not...they're put in contrast to these who are trusting in their riches. So they're not...the upright are not trusting in
their wealth, which begs the question 'What or who are they trusting in?' Which he answers in the very next verse.
But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me.
Here the answer to the riddle is complete. The psalmist doesn't need to fear in days of trouble because he knows
that ultimately God will redeem him. All will die, but God will redeem his soul from the power of Sheol, He will
redeem him from the power of death. For God will receive him. That's just a beautiful phrase there, “...for He will
receive me.” We talked about this some last week. Redemption is not just deliverance from slavery, but a
deliverance from slavery into God's freedom. And here it's not just a deliverance from death, but a deliverance unto
life, unto the very source of life and to God Himself.
The psalmist begins answering the riddle in verse 7 with the statement “Truly no man can ransom another or give
to God the price of his life.” And then he completes his answer to his riddle in verse 15 with the complement to
verse 7. “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.” We cannot redeem
Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
www.wasillabible.org
ourselves or any other, but God can redeem us. And with this wisdom, with this understanding, the psalmist gives
his application in the next verse, verse 16. He says “Be not afraid.”
Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies
he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him. For though, while he lives, he
counts himself blessed,—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—his soul will go
to the generation of his fathers, who will never again see light. Man in his pomp yet without
understanding is like the beasts that perish.
Man is like the beasts of the field that perish, except if he has understanding. And what is this understanding?
That God alone can ransom us, that God alone can redeem us. The writer of Psalm 49 wants the hearer or the
reader to have this wisdom, this understanding. But it's interesting...he wants it to go beyond just an abstract
knowledge of this truth. It's really interesting to me that the application that he gives, the directive that you find in
the psalm is “Be not afraid.” He wants this understanding that God alone can redeem us to actually affect the way
that the hearer of the psalm reacts and acts in a very specific situation.
When Larry began this sermon series a few weeks ago, he was very emphatic that we be trained in redemption—
that it's not just a truth that we know, but that the truth that God alone can redeem us affect the way we live, think,
speak, and act. If you’re here this morning and you are a Christian, the wisdom presented here in Psalm 49 is not
new to you. If you're a Christian, you know that you cannot redeem yourself or any other, but that God alone can
redeem us. My concern this morning, like the psalmist’s, is that we don’t hold this truth, this understanding, at
arm’s length. The psalm deals a bit with the false redeemer of money. And it's particularly, when it comes to
finances, that it can be very easy for us to kind of make this truth that God alone redeems us abstract, and sort of
hold it at arm’s length, and not really let it affect the way we think, and live, and act.. Most of us here know that
ultimately, only God can give us the contentment, the security, the freedom that our souls long for, and that money
cannot give do that for us. Money cannot buy happiness. But if I asked you if just a little more money would make
you just a little happier, how would you answer? How would I answer? It's very easy to fool ourselves into thinking
that 'With just a little more I would be content', or 'With just a little more I would be secure', or 'With just a little more
I would be free to do what I want'. Really, would I? Too look to money for redemption is a foolish confidence. Our
contentment is ultimately rooted in the enjoyment of God’s favor, through Jesus our Redeemer. And our security
ultimately is not rooted...knowing that we have a place in God’s family, and that our Father is with us and watching
over us, and will take care of us. And our freedom...freedom that our souls truly need and crave...is not the ability
to take a vacation whenever we want. It's that freedom from our fear, freedom from our sin, even from our chronic
self-absorption. Freedom and walking in the Spirit and in those good works that God has prepared for us, and not
according to the flesh, our contentment, our security, in short our redemption, is only found in God.
The challenge is to live out this truth. It's easy when the anxieties of life build—when the bills come, when a rival
business threatens ours, when we’re hit with an unexpected house repair or car repair, a medical bill, a lost job—it's
really easy to start treating money the way the world treats money, as if it actually could save us. God knows that
we have needs, and it's right and biblical to labor and meet these needs, to try and meet those needs. The problem
comes when our pursuit of these becomes our highest pursuit, and we start to treat money as if it actually were our
redeemer. Jesus says in Matthew 6:31-33,
“Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall
we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will
be added to you.”
It is good to labor, but money should not be our highest pursuit, our first pursuit, for it is not our redeemer. Only
God can redeem us. As I mentioned at the beginning, Psalm 49 is a wisdom song, and it's a divinely inspired
wisdom song; it is wisdom we can stake our lives on. We cannot ransom ourselves or any other, but God can
redeem us. We may participate in some way in His redemption as we saw with Boaz, Ruth, Obed, Moses, Aaron;
but God is ultimately our redemption, our redeemer. He alone can redeem us. And we do not need to hold this
truth at arm’s length. Indeed, we cannot afford to. We need to embrace it and let it permeate our lives, and affect
the way that we live, and think, and act.
Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
www.wasillabible.org
In the month ahead, we will be looking at specific life situations and how our understanding of redemption can
shape and guide our reactions and action in those specific situations. This week I’d like us to begin the process by
simply asking the question: Am I trying to redeem myself or another in this situation by any other means than by
looking to God to be our Redeemer? There are many other things that people look toward for redemption. Psalm
49 deals with one of the biggest false redeemers—money. It also mentions the closely related false redeemer of
fame. Many things are looked to for redemption, but only God can redeem us, which He has done, which He is
doing, and which He will do through His Son Jesus.
I love that song we sing that goes, “In the morning when I rise, in the morning when I rise, in the morning when I
rise give me Jesus.” The world may look to money, to material wealth, but in Jesus we have true riches, in Jesus
we have plentiful redemption, in Jesus we are blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, in Him
you are loved beyond your comprehension and loved beyond measure. “No greater wealth have I, no greater
wealth have I, no greater wealth have I than Lord Jesus.” Would you sing with me?
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus.
You can have all this world, give me Jesus.
From the cradle to the grave, from the cradle to the grave,
from the cradle to the grave give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus;
you can have all this world, you can have all this world,
you can have all this world.
Give me Jesus.
Please stand and join me in prayer.
Our Father in heaven, forgive us our sins, forgive us for looking to other things for redemption.
Thank you for redeeming us through Your Son. May this truth permeate our lives. May we hold
fast to it. Father, show us where we err. If there are areas of our lives in which we are trying to
redeem ourselves or another and are not looking to you for that redemption, then show us, O God,
that we may not foolishly trust in any other, but only look to You our Rock, our Salvation, our
Redeemer. In the glorious name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Go in His grace.
Only God Can Redeem Us
Pastor Joel Stamoolis
Wasilla Bible Church
www.wasillabible.org