Psalm 49:15 Only God Can Save Us from Death

We began our study of Psalm 49 last week, by learning that nothing can save you from death except faith in God. The psalmist identified five idols throughout this psalm in which people rely for their salvation. Death was the great equalizer for them all.

Whether a person relied on the idols of money, intelligence, power, fame, or religion, they were still lost. They will all die. There is no idol who can save. There is only one hope to save us from death. That hope is mentioned in today’s verse.

Please read Psalm 49:15.

The common refrain that runs throughout this psalm is this: some people rely on wealth, but the rich and the poor will both likewise die; some people rely on their intelligence, but the wise and the stupid will both likewise die; some people rely on their power, but the strong and the weak will both likewise die; some people rely on their fame, but the popular and the unknown will both likewise die; some people rely on their religion, but the pious and the heathen will both likewise die. Death is the great equalizer.

So, what is the only thing that can save us from death? “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol.” God is the only One who can save; God is the only One who can break the chains of death; God is the only One who can deliver lost sinners into His marvelous light. We can never save ourselves, and none of the idols on which people rely will ever be able to save us. Only God can save.

Specifically, God revealed Himself in the form of Jesus Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Peter said of Jesus: “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. The Son of God gave His life in the most excruciating way imaginable to pay the price for our sins. Before He died, He knew the suffering that He was about to experience at the cross, and He didn’t want to do it! He begged the Father “remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42a). If there were any other way for people to be saved, don’t you think Jesus would have mentioned it? If there were any way for us to be saved by following religion or having enough wealth of fame, intelligence or power, don’t you think God would have just provided this for us? Instead of sending His Son to die?

But there is only one way for us to be saved. Only God can ransom our souls from the power of death. So Jesus prayed, “Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42b). God the Father loved us so much that, knowing the only way for us to be saved was to send His Son to the cross, He willingly sent Him to die.

Now all those who have repented of their sin and placed their faith in Christ are saved.

Death is the great equalizer, but Jesus Christ “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Therefore, He said “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Just as death is an equal offender against everyone, so too does Christ freely offer life to everyone who comes to Him. “The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).

I pray that you no longer trust in the idols of this world, but that you have surrendered your heart to Jesus Christ. Only then will God receive you into His Kingdom.