Why Should I Fear in Times of Trouble?
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of Ps. 42, titlethe Sons of Korah.
1 Ps. 78:1;Isa. 1:2;Mic. 1:2Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 Ps. 62:9both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak Prov. 1:20;9:1wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to [Ps. 78:2;Matt. 13:35] a proverb;
I will solve my Num. 12:8;Prov. 1:6riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 [Ps. 37:1] Why should I fear in Ps. 94:13times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who Ps. 52:7;Prov. 11:28;Mark 10:24,25;[Job 31:24]trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man [Matt. 25:9] can ransom another,
or [Matt. 16:26] give to God See Job 33:24the price of his life,
8 for Job 36:18,19the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and Ps. 16:10;[Ps. 89:48]never see the pit.
10 For he sees Eccles. 2:16that even the wise die;
Ps. 73:22;92:6;94:8;Prov. 30:2the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and See Ps. 39:6leave their wealth to others.
11 Their Ps. 5:9;64:6graves are their homes forever,49:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Targum; Hebrew Their inward thought was that their homes were forever
their dwelling places Ps. 10:6to all generations,
though they [Gen. 4:17]called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp ver. 20;[Ps. 39:5;82:7] will not remain;
ver. 20;Eccles. 3:19he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have [Luke 12:20]foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.49:13 Or and of those after them who approve of their boastsSelah
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright [Dan. 7:22;Mal. 4:3;Luke 22:30;1 Cor. 6:2;Rev. 2:26;20:4] shall rule over them in the morning.
Ps. 39:11Their form shall be consumed Job 24:19,20in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will Hos. 13:14;[Dan. 12:2] ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will Ps. 16:11;17:15;73:24;[Gen. 5:24]receive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 [Job 27:19] For when he dies he will 1 Tim. 6:7carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself Ps. 10:3;36:2;Deut. 29:19;Luke 12:19blessed—
and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will Gen. 15:15go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again Ps. 56:13;Job 33:30see light.
20 ver. 12Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.