You Can’t Take It With You

Psalm 49: 1 – 20

You can’t take it with you

To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 Both low and high, rich and poor together. 3 My mouth shall speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart shall give understanding. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will disclose my dark saying on the harp. 5 Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? 6 Those who trust in their wealth and boast in the multitude of their riches, 7 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him— 8 For the redemption of their souls is costly, and it shall cease forever— 9 That he should continue to live eternally, and not see the Pit. 10 For he sees wise men die; Likewise, the fool and the senseless person perish, and leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their houses will last forever, their dwelling places to all generations; They call their lands after their own names. 12 Nevertheless man, though in honor, does not remain; He is like the beasts that perish. 13 This is the way of those who are foolish, and of their posterity who approve their sayings. Selah 14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, Ffor He shall receive me. Selah 16 Do not be afraid when one becomes rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17 For when he dies he shall carry nothing away; His glory shall not descend after him. 18 Though while he lives he blesses himself (For men will praise you when you do well for yourself), 19 He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They shall never see light. 20 A man who is in honor, yet does not understand, is like the beasts that perish.

I think most of us are familiar with the saying, ‘You can’t take it with you’ , but in the life of Christianity we have a second part to this truth and that is, ‘You can send it on ahead.’

In the Gospel of Luke chapter 12 we read about a lesson from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ about greed.

“4 But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15 And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Please notice that our Loving Lord Jesus turns to the crowd (to avoid personally indicting the man for something of which all can be guilty) and warns without ambiguity that greed must be guarded against. Greed is the insatiable desire for more. It is to want possessions inordinately, beyond what is reasonable or necessary.

Greed is often downplayed today; accumulation and the ostentatious display of wealth are often celebrated. Great rooms with cathedral ceilings, huge flat screen TVs (even private home theaters), and fancy cars are shamelessly flaunted.

Greed is at the root of a lot of evils and suffering. Scripture says in the Paul’s first letter to Timothy, ‘For we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs.’