Verse 14 is a difficult passage, as the differences between the translations will show.
Death will feed on them (King James version) is a sufficiently horrid metaphor; this is one of the few places in the Bible where Death is spoken of as if it were a person. An even more unpleasant picture is that of the NIV, Death shall be their shepherd--A hideous parody of what Revelation 7:17 is going to say about those who put their trust in the Lamb of God: he 'will be their shepherd' and 'will lead them to springs of living water'.
It was towards a New Testament promise like this one that the psalmist's confidence in v 15 was pointing: 'God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself." However incomplete the Old Testament's perception of life after death, our psalmist believes that a ransom price too high for any human being to pay, in order to buy himself out of Death's clutches (v8), is not too high for God; and that once the price is paid, and he has (in whatever sense) escaped Death, he will be with God. Verse 15 comes true in its fullest sense with the coming of the gospel.
--taken from The Message of Psalm, The Bible Speaks Today, Michael Wilcock, pg178
Comparing different versions of the bible, helps us identify difficult passages for translators of the bible.
Charles Wesley's hymn 06 is a Christianised version of Psalm 49
Try writing and singing your own Christianised version of Psalm 49.
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