`Both low and high, rich and poor, together'.

His message is largely taken up with the same baffling consciousness that we find in Ecclesiastes 3:18-22, namely

that without hope, man dies like a beast (Psa. 49:10-12). No man can redeem his brother so that he should live for

ever and not see corruption, and instead of trusting in God that quickeneth the dead:

`Their inward thought is, that their Houses shall continue for ever, and their Dwelling Places to all generations;

they call their Lands after their own names' (Psa. 49:11).

No hope for a personal resurrection; such take what comfort they can from a PROXY immortality:

`They call their Lands after their own names'.

They are concerned as to the continuance of their `houses'. They even institute divorce proceedings in the hope

that by remarriage they will have an `heir'. All because they cannot say:

`I know that MY Redeemer liveth ... Whom I shall see ... and not another' (Job 19:25-27).

Returning to Psalm 17, the pitiful substitute for personal resurrection is summed up by the words:

`... they are full of (SATISFIED with, same word as in verse 15) children, and leave the rest of their substance to

their babes' (Psa. 17:14).

There is no `substance' for such to leave, the word is in italics and does not exist in the original. They leave

what is left over to their babes - but what is left over? Let us read Psalm 49 again:

`When he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall NOT DESCEND after him'

`This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings' (Psa. 49:17 and 13).

What a relief, what a blessed relief, to turn to the Psalmist's alternatives, expressed by the words `As for me'.

Over against this `proxy immortality' the Psalmist places the blessed hope of the believer:

`As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness' (Psa.

In verse 2 the Psalmist prayed:

`Let Thine eyes behold the things that are equal',

which is echoed in verse 15 `I will behold Thy face in righteousness'. The word translated `equal' and also `make

straight' balances the word `righteousness'. There, in resurrection glory, the crooked shall be made straight and the

rough places shall be made plain, all inequalities, that worry and perplex the men of this world, and often trip up the

feet of the godly, shall be smoothed out, and both believer and his Lord shall behold `things that are equal and

brought into perfect balance'. The beholding of the Lord's face in righteousness is a step to the goal of the ages:

1. I shall be satisfied

2. When I awake

3. With Thy likeness.

First the believer must be awakened from the sleep of death. Throughout the Word of God, whether in Old

Testament or New, `sleeping' and `awakening' are the figures used consistently for death and resurrection, but as

even some Evangelical Fundamentalists deny this, and substitute for God's word and God's words their own creed,

we must spare time and place to exhibit the consistent teaching of all Scripture.