A generic tired-light mechanism is examined in which a photon, like any particle moving in a medium, experiences friction, that is, a force resisting its motion. If the velocity of light is assumed to be constant, this hypothesis yields a Hubble-like law which is also a consequence of the R h = ct cosmology. Herein, it is used for estimating matter density as a function of redshift, allowing to show that the density of sources of long gammaray bursts appears to be nearly constant, up to z ≈ 4. Assuming that the later is a fair probe of the former, this means that matter density has been roughly constant over the last ten billion years, implying that, at least over this period, matter has been in an overall state of equilibrium.