Psalm 49:15 "But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah."
Sometimes we might be guilty of being envious of those who seem to prosper even
though we know what they are doing is corrupt. We look at the immediate results
without giving consideration to the end result. David tells us emphatically
that the grave has the ultimate victory for those who are not redeemed by the
blood of Jesus Christ.
Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus all the day long;
While there are others living about us,
Never molested, though in the wrong.
Our text verse today begins with my favorite two words in the Bible: "But
God...." I'm not sure to what extent David understood what will take place
after our bodies die. I'm not sure to what extent David understood the
resurrection. But we saw in a previous Psalm that he declared he would be
satisfied when he would awake in the likeness of the Lord. Today's verse tells
us the grave will not have power over the redeemed. The old spiritual song
stated it well, "There ain't no grave gonna hold my body down."
Through the redemption that is in the blood of Christ Jesus we shall be
received by the Father.
When you read the accounts of the resurrection in the New Testament, we
are taught the spirits of the redeemed will return to God immediately. When our
last breath on earth is taken, we will be in the presence of the Lord in that
very instant. At a future moment of time, known only to the Father, there will
be the shout of the archangel and the trumpet shall sound. At that time, the
Lord will appear in the clouds and the graves shall be opened. The power of the
grave will be relinquished, our bodies will be raised in glorified form (in the
likeness of our Lord), and we shall meet Him in the air. From that point, we
shall forever be with the Lord in all eternity. We, like David, shall be
satisfied on that day when we awake in HIS likeness. See 1 Corinthians
chapter 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
I'll Be Satisfied, by Joe Pannell
When my soul is singing in that promised land above,
I’ll be satisfied;
Praising Christ the Savior for redeeming grace and love,
I'll be satisfied.