Daily Devotions
Psalms
Psalm 49:1 "Give ear, all inhabitants of the world..."
Day 77 – Psalm 49
“Give ear, all inhabitants of the world…” Psalm 49:1
SUPERSCRIPTION
We have another standard superscription to Psalm 49. The superscription has the usual features of identifying the author(s) and the Chief Musician.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
WISDOM LITERATURE
The Book of Psalms was part of a body of literature known as “Wisdom Literature (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon)”. The following are the features of these special didactic-wisdom psalms. Three may be highlighted.
1. The theme of the psalm is “wisdom”.
2. The psalm is not a prayer to God or a hymn of praise.
3. The focus is on impartation of wisdom derived from life’s experience.
4. The target of wisdom-psalms is general readers who are interested in gaining wisdom
SPECIFIC FOCUS OF PSALM 49
The special focus is on the subject of “Wealth”. How should one look at wealth? How should one regard those who have obtained wealth?
THE STYLE OF PSALM 49
The style of Psalm 49 is quite similar to Ecclesiastes and to Proverbs. The following features may be noted.
1. There is a clear introduction as to the purpose of writing.
2. There is clear mention of obtaining “wisdom” as a definite goal.
3. The language of wisdom literature includes the following phrases:-
a) A proverb (Psalm 49:4a)
b) Dark saying (Psalm 49:4b)
There is great value in studying these wisdom-psalms. Much wisdom may indeed be found in Psalm 49. The writing skill of the sons of Korah spans from Song writing to Wisdom literature.