Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world:
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
In these four verses the poet prophet calls universal humanity to listen to his didactic hymn.
Commenting on Psalm 49:1
Hear this, all ye people. All men are concerned in the subject, it is of them, and therefore to them that the psalmist would speak. It is not a topic which men delight to consider, and therefore he who would instruct them must press them to give ear.