Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,
The wicked enjoy prosperity while God's people suffer affliction, which tempts the faithful to despair. But the Psalmist means to check their envy and moderate the pride of the ungodly by showing that worldly happiness, however grand it appears, is vain and evanescent, whereas the godly, tried though they be, remain the objects of divine regard and shall be delivered from their enemies.
AI summary
Commenting on Psalm 49:1-20
Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about? The man of God looks calmly forward to dark times when those evils which have dogged his heels shall gain a temporary advantage over him.
This is the psalmist's preface to his discourse concerning the vanity of the world and its insufficiency to make us happy; and we seldom meet with an introduction more solemn than this is; for there is no truth of more undoubted certainty, nor of greater weight and importance, and the consideration of which will be of more advantage to us. I.
Commenting on Psalm 49:1-5