Psalm 49:10 Intelligence Can't Save You from Death

On Tuesday, we began our study of Psalm 49 by learning that the psalmist has a message for all peoples: nothing can save you from death except faith in God. Unfortunately, people have all sorts of idols in which they trust, though these idols will not ultimately be able to save them from death.

There are five specific idols identified in this psalm. Yesterday, we looked at the first idol of money. Today, we will look at the second idol: intelligence. This is only listed in one verse in this psalm, but because it is an idol in which so many people trust today, I felt the need to spend an entire lesson on it.

Please read Psalm 49:10.

I recently heard a fellow believer share how sad she was that her family did not believe in Christ. Coming from a family of mostly non-believers myself, I felt empathy for her. She proceeded to share that her family was very intelligent and well-read, and it was a little intimidating to speak with them because they thought her a fool for having faith in Christ. How ironic!

The true fool is the one who says “there is no God” (Psalm 53:1). God has made Himself known through His creation from the beginning of the world, but men foolishly choose to reject His revelation. Trusting in their own wisdom, they prove themselves stupid. Claiming to be wise, they acts like fools. (Romans 1:20-23).

Have you read some of the things that “smart” men have come up with to try to explain away the incredible works of God? Evolutionists are perhaps the worst at this. They are so desperate to deny the existence of God that they invent their own “god” and call him “Nature.” They refuse to admit that animals could be designed by a Creator to reproduce according to their kinds. So, they insist that animals must have evolved over time from some common ancestor through a process called “natural selection” in which “nature” (often spelled with a capital “N” because they idolize it) selects which species will continue and which will die off.

The “smart scientists” believe this theory even though there is no fossil evidence to support it. Darwin himself, “the father of evolution,” admitted that there wasn’t any fossil evidence to support his claims. He believed this was because there simply weren’t enough fossils found in his time, but over time, the fossil record would be filled in and we would find millions of missing links between kinds. Yet, here we are, about 160 years after he first published his theory, with thousands of complete fossils found, and the number of partial fossils numbering in the trillions.

Let me say that again: there are trillions of fossil pieces that have been discovered. How many of those are from “missing links” between one animal kind and another? ZERO! And yet, Christians are considered the fools because we believe in the theory which the evidence supports: that an Almighty Creator designed animals to reproduce according to their kinds.

Those whom the world calls “wise” are really fools if they deny the existence of God. That’s why God chose the fools of this world: to shame those who think themselves wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). Unfortunately, so many of these “wise” people are trusting in their own intelligence. They use their “wisdom” as a justification to refuse to listen to the Christians who are trying to share the good news with them. How tragic!

It doesn’t matter how smart or stupid you are, death is the great equalizer. We will all die one day and then stand before God in judgment (Hebrews 9:27). On that day, we won’t be able to tell God that He didn’t give us enough evidence to have faith in Him. He has given us everything we need. Still, the fool chooses to reject Him, while calling himself wise.