God’s Redeeming Power

 

Psalm 49:15 “But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.” (NIV)

Psalm 49 is written to make a key point to all of us living in this world: you cannot take your possessions with you when you die and enter eternity. Death is the great leveler, whether you are in a high position or low, or whether you are poor or rich. Death comes to all men, regardless of personal power, strength, or fame. As the Psalmist writes, no man can give a ransom to God for the life of another to ensure his body doesn’t see decay (Psalm 49:7-9).

The Apostle Peter tells us that the end of all things is near, and because of this we are to be sober minded and self-controlled so that we might pray (1 Peter 4:7). Christians should never fret about the success of others, including wicked and evil men, because this world is not our home and we are just passing through. God is on his throne and he is sovereign over all men, circumstances, and times and God alone is to be trusted, honored, and obeyed.

As our devotional text states, God will redeem our lives from the grave not to forget us or discard us, but to take us to himself. The priority of our lives must be to seek out God so that we might understand him and his guidance for our lives. Without understanding God, even the man with riches who dies is like the beasts that perish (Psalm 49:20). Only God can make the eternal difference in a person’s life. Each one of us must be motivated to know God and serve him alone. James Russell Lowell’s great poem “The Present Crisis” contains these words:

Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne,-
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.

Who do you trust, men or God?

TODAY I WILL TRUST MY GOD, FOR HE ALONE HAS THE POWER TO REDEEM MY LIFE FROM THE GRAVE, AND HE ALONE LOVES ME ENOUGH TO TAKE ME HOME TO HIM FOR ALL ETERNITY.

God’s Redeeming Power with Mike White @ Summit church of Christ