Psalm 49: 6 – 9
They trust in their treasures and boast in their riches, yet not one of them, though rich as a king, could rescue his own brother from the guilt of his sins. Not one could give God the ransom price for the soul of another, let alone for himself. A soul’s redemption is too costly and precious for anyone to pay with earthly wealth. The price to pay is never enough to purchase eternal life for even one, to keep them out of hell.
This is not a verse about money though some people categorize it that way. It is about the value, the cost of one human soul. Even more, this verse speaks to the extreme high cost of redeeming even one human soul.
The cost of sin, it tells us, was so high that all of the earth’s wealth could not have purchased even one soul from hell. Standing on this side of the cross, we understand the high price. Only the blood from the innocent child of God could redeem us. What an incredible price to pay for us. I can’t help but wonder if we were worth the price, but our Father thinks we are. Nothing less than that which was most precious to Him was sufficient to buy our way out of hell.
I wonder if this psalmist had any glimpse into the price that would be paid. He understood Passover so maybe he had an idea how expensive the cost and maybe he knew the Messiah was going to have to do something extraordinary. Or, did he think we would go on sacrificing unblemished lambs forever. His writing sounds like he knew there would have to be something more, but could he ever have imagined that God would sacrifice His son? Sometimes that is even hard to fathom from this side of the cross.
What a crazy plan! I would have never guessed the price Father was willing to pay for me and I don’t know that He got a good bargain, but I am so thankful that He gave all. He gave His best for the least of us. Not one of us was unworthy of the price in His eyes. Isn’t that amazing? How could He love us that much? How could Jesus give himself up to slaughter?
I hope today’s verse stirs something in your heart. I hope you see how precious you are to the Father. Nothing less than the blood of His beloved was valuable enough, rich enough to redeem us. They gave all. Maybe today, in light of this verse and its revelation, we feel moved to give them more.