For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by the sons of Korah.
1Hear this, all you peoples.
Listen, all you inhabitants of the world,
2both low and high,
rich and poor together.
3My mouth will speak words of wisdom.
My heart will utter understanding.
4I will incline my ear to a proverb.
I will solve my riddle on the harp.
5Why should I fear in the days of evil,
when iniquity at my heels surrounds me?
6Those who trust in their wealth,
and boast in the multitude of their riches—
7none of them can by any means redeem his brother,
nor give God a ransom for him.
8For the redemption of their life is costly,
no payment is ever enough,
9that he should live on forever,
that he should not see corruption.
10For he sees that wise men die;
likewise the fool and the senseless perish,
and leave their wealth to others.
11Their inward thought is that their houses will endure forever,
and their dwelling places to all generations.
They name their lands after themselves.
12But man, despite his riches, doesn’t endure.
He is like the animals that perish.
13This is the destiny of those who are foolish,
and of those who approve their sayings. Selah.
14They are appointed as a flock for Sheol.
Death shall be their shepherd.
The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
Their beauty shall decay in Sheol,
far from their mansion.
15But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah.
16Don’t be afraid when a man is made rich,
when the glory of his house is increased;
17for when he dies he will carry nothing away.
His glory won’t descend after him.
18Though while he lived he blessed his soul—
and men praise you when you do well for yourself—
19he shall go to the generation of his fathers.
They shall never see the light.
20A man who has riches without understanding,
is like the animals that perish.
The holiness of Yahweh is evident in the unique practices within Israel and in the role of the Levitical System. "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, 'When a man consecrates a person to Yahweh in a vow."
The Levitical laws demonstrate the holiness of God. The Lord is perfect and pure and so requires the perfection of sacrifice before we can enjoy His presence forever (Genesis 3:21; Deuteronomy 32:3-4; Psalms 16:10-11; 40:6-8; 49:7-9; Hebrews 10:1-18). Because sinners are alienated from God’s holiness, the offering of the blood of the sacrifice satisfies the wrath of God against sinners (Romans 3:9-31; 5:6-11). The ritual laws required the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins, that is, to make atonement for souls (Leviticus 17:10-11, 14). The blood of animals was used as a type or symbol of the blood of Christ until Christ actually came to shed His own blood for our sins (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; 27:8; Numbers 8:4; 1 Chronicles 28:9-19; Romans 3:25; Acts 14:16; 17:30-31; Hebrews 8:5; 9:6-10, 23-25; 10:1-18). The dietary laws made a distinction between clean and unclean animals, also to remind the people of the holiness of God (Leviticus 11:1-47; Deuteronomy 14:1-21). God is unique and distinct, and so the people who belong to Him were to be the same among all the peoples of the earth (Leviticus 11:44-45; Deuteronomy 4:1-8; 7:6-11). God is holy; therefore, His people were to be holy (Leviticus 11:44). Now that Jesus Christ has come, the following passages have a bearing on this issue: Mark 7:19; Acts 10:1-11:14; 15:1-29; Colossians 2:16-23; and 1 Timothy 4:1-5. The moral laws of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17; Deuteronomy 5:6-21) or the detailed moral statutes found elsewhere (Exodus 21-23; Leviticus 18 and 20) also demonstrated the holiness of God as opposed to the sinfulness of man. For example, the one who practices sexual immorality defiles himself and violates God’s holiness. The Lord said, “Do not defile yourselves by any of these things; for by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled (Leviticus 18:24),” and, “Thus you are to be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine (Leviticus 20:26).” The apostle made the same connection by saying, “Flee immorality…glorify God in your body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20),” “if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master (2 Timothy 2:19-22).” Submission to God’s moral law is so vital that when disobedience is the practice, the Scripture says, “I forewarn you just as I have forewarned you that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21).” See also Romans 7:1-6; 13:14; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:9-11; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 5:1-13; Colossians 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 13:4; 1 Peter 4:3; 2 Peter 2; and Jude 4.