Ps 49 20 A man who has riches without understanding
is like the beasts that perish.
There is only living in reality or in darkness in this world. The Psalmist is not saying that if a man uses his money wisely that he will be above the beast. The Psalmist is distinguishing between the elect of God and the wicked who are the beast of the field. He is saying that the elect view their riches by God giving them salvation. The bible calls this covenant blessing. On the other hand the wicked view their riches as beast of the field. The bible calls this being cursed. Verse 20 is wishing that God would bless His covenant people by bringing cursing and blessing together. Its the theme that the world is filled with wicked men who are in darkness who believe that they control their money. When someone reacts to events in a self protective way ..this man speaks violence. You see the world is real by the value we place on people and things. The difference between men and beast is that the beast fulfill their needs by ravaging their food. They get things by instinct. So they live in an environment that eats its own flesh.. They live in a very violent world. The measure of their worth is how to survive on the next victim.
The Psalmist is saying that the nations around him are like a colony of animals. He is contrasting Israel with these violent nations. He is saying that Israel has been the product of Gods gifts. God gave them the law, the covenants and the inheritance. They live in the kingdom of God...a kingdom in which they obtain all that they possess through redemption. If the Lamb had not come and been the sacrifice for their sins then there would be no price good enough to redeem the people. So the security, provision, and stability was the payment of price of redemption that Christ paid in order to be granted to the nation. Christ became the standard of their value and the repayment of the abuse that they suffered.

So God is saying to the Israel...I treated You as special. I proved it by the obvious culture of violence that you observe in the the nations. You see they see everything that they obtain as being under their control. But the most valuable which is redemption cannot be bought with money. God is teaching that the curse has made man as violent and as controlling as an animal. He will devour anyone who opposes him in moving up the ladder of success. And he will build big houses as proof that he is successful. Man has an insatiable desire to be seen as the ruler when he is old. He cant avoid the pitfalls of the grief of seeking these things. He faces the power of the curse that crushes him. Man lives below the standard of glory that God has purpose for him.