and not see decay
This phrase emphasizes the inevitability of physical death and the decay that follows. In the cultural context of ancient Israel, burial practices and the concept of Sheol (the abode of the dead) were significant, as seen in Genesis 37:35 and Psalm 16:10. The latter verse is also a messianic prophecy, later applied to Jesus Christ in Acts 2:27, indicating that He would not undergo decay, thus affirming His resurrection. This connection underscores the Christian belief in the resurrection of the body and eternal life through Christ, contrasting with the futility of human efforts to avoid decay through wealth or power.

- The pronoun “he” points back to the person in Psalm 49:6–8 who trusts in riches yet tries to bargain with God for life.

- Scripture consistently shows that, apart from divine intervention, “all flesh is like grass” (1 Peter 1:24) and every person is “appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

- Jesus’ story of the rich fool illustrates the same truth: “This very night your life will be demanded from you” (Luke 12:20).

- The longing behind the words is the universal desire to keep breathing, working, earning, enjoying family and status.

- Yet Psalm 49:7 states plainly, “No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God”. Wealth cannot purchase one more heartbeat.

- Echoes:

• Genesis 3:19—death entered through sin.

• Mark 8:36—gaining the whole world cannot rescue the soul.

• 1 Peter 1:18–19—only the “precious blood of Christ” can pay the ransom we cannot.

- The text exposes the human dream of unending life on our own terms, then quietly shuts the door on it.

- Only God is “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). Humanity’s forever is possible only through Him: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

- Believers are promised a share in His eternity: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:11–12).

- “Decay” speaks of the grave—the physical corruption every body faces (Ecclesiastes 3:20).

- David foresaw One who would break that pattern: “You will not let Your Holy One see decay” (Psalm 16:10), fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection (Acts 2:31; 13:35).

- Because Christ “has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20), His people look toward:

• incorruptible, resurrected bodies (1 Corinthians 15:52–53)

• living caught up with Him forever (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

• a future where “there will be no more death” (Revelation 21:4).

Psalm 49:9 lays bare mankind’s inability to buy immortality: wealth cannot make a man live on, cannot stretch his days into forever, cannot spare his body from decay. The verse throws us upon the only sufficient Redeemer—Jesus—whose sinless life, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection answer every longing the psalm exposes. Trusting Him, we receive what money can never purchase: eternal life and a future free from decay.