Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together!
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
4 I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
9 that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
10 For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
12 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me. Selah
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
20 Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.
ESV
Don’t be overwhelmed at the length of this psalm. Initially work at memorising one or two verses. I have hung this on the Disney Pixar film ‘UP’. You could put this on any film or storyline so use the basic ideas below but adapt it to anything more familiar to you. Here is a link to the characters : https://pixar.fandom.com/wiki/Category:Up_Characters
Hear this, all peoples!
Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,
2 both low and high,
rich and poor together!
EAR
Mouth –
Heart
EAR
Go from one ear to the other via the mouth and the heart.
People/ inhabitants
Note arch shape Low-high- rich-poor
the owner of a cinema comes on stage and introduces the film UP
3 My mouth shall speak wisdom;
the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.
Mouth- – the M makes a downward shape
Wisdom- the W makes an upward smile shape
Carl enters the house and meets Ellie a young tomboy and fellow fan of Charles F. Muntz, and they become close friends almost instantly. Set this in the house they explore where Carl says cross your heart.
I will incline my ear to a proverb;
I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.
This is a parallelism. Both parts of the verse are to do with hearing – Ear and Music
Carl and Ellie get married. Music is played at their wedding reception
5 Why should I fear in times of trouble,
when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
due to their general life expenses – they break open the piggy bank but all is gone and Ellie’s aging, they become incapable of making the trip to Paradise falls.
6 those who trust in their wealth
and boast of the abundance of their riches?
Wealth sounds like Health
Ellie’s aging, they become incapable of making the trip to Paradise falls.
7 Truly no man can ransom another,
or give to God the price of his life,
8 for the ransom of their life is costly
and can never suffice,
Note the parallel thoughts here:
Ransom – price life
Ransom- life cost
Carl prays offering a ransom for Ellie that she wouldn’t die.
that he should live on forever
and never see the pit.
forever
never
For he sees that even the wise die;
the fool and the stupid alike must perish
and leave their wealth to others.
He wears big thick glasses = sees
Wise sounds like Wife
Ellie dies peacefully and Carl heartbroken and alone, Carl returns to his house after attending Ellie’s funeral.
At the funeral fools and stupid people attend
11 Their graves are their homes forever,
their dwelling places to all generations,
though they called lands by their own names.
Carl’s house now sits in the middle of a construction site ( surrounded by a grave yard.) He refuses to leave the house which has a well( dwelling) in the kitchen with fish (place)
2 Man in his pomp will not remain;
he is like the beasts that perish.
Man = the leader of the construction crew who gets prune( pomp) juice in his petrol tank.
The leader of the construction crew has apparently been hassling him to sell the house for some time, but Carl remains persistent, even retaliating with acts such as “pouring prune juice in his gas tank”.
13 This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;
yet after them people approve of their boasts.
Those = rose. The balloons have roses on them
thousands and thousands of balloons appear from behind the house. The house is ripped from its foundation and carried into the sky on an aerial path. Passersby look in shock to see the flying house but approve of Carl’s boasts!
14 Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;
The fog clears and Carl begins to look around at the extraordinary landscape. He soon notices the familiar view of Paradise Falls; they made it. There is a signpost pointing to Sheol
death shall be their shepherd,
and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.
Russel finds what he thinks are snipe tracks and encounters a giant, chocolate-loving bird who is very tall (upright)
Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.
place = plaice
dwell = well
The dogs bring Carl and Russell to a giant cave(Sheol). Inside are dozens of dogs, all with the special collars. Out from the shadows comes an elderly, but fit man. Charles Muntz . He stands next to a plaice fish on a well.
15 But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,
for he will receive me.
God pulls Carl and Russel back from a powerful Shhhhhh vacuum cleaner
16 Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
Charles Manz has a rich estate
17 For when he dies he will carry nothing away;
his glory will not go down after him.
Manz falls out of his dirigible –
18 For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed
—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—
19 his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,
who will never again see light.
Manz crashes into his Dad’s generator. It is completely dark.
Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.