 Earlier today a friend of mine from Wisconsin, Aaron Anderson, was tragically killed in a car accident. His Christ-centered life and God-honoring testimony is commemorated by his pastor here. Some of you may have known him. He was only a few years younger than me, and had been a student at Maranatha for a time. He had currently been living in Wisconsin and faithfully serving Jesus at Lakewood Baptist Church. My heart breaks for his family and friends who are wrestling with God over this, and my heart leaps to consider the heavenly experiences Aaron is now enjoying. I was reminded today that life is short and our ability to impact for Christ is extensive. I was also reminded of a simple consideration from Psalm 116 that I had written in 2008 when a teacher in my Christian school in New Hampshire passed away from cancer. For your encouragement, those thoughts are shared below. Psalm 116:1-9 – I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call upon Him as long as I live. The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, I implore You, deliver my soul!' Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
These words were penned by one who had experienced the “Valley of the Shadow of Death.” Here the Psalmist refers to a time in his life when he had stared death in the face. He speaks of the “pains of death,” the “pangs of Sheol,” “trouble,” “sorrow,” of a time when he “was brought low,” of “tears” and “falling.” And as the tentacles of lifelessness slowly began to wrap themselves around him, he had cried out unto the Lord to “deliver his soul” and grant him life. And the Lord answered that prayer. As in the case of Hezekiah, who, as he was lying upon his bed of illness gazing into the face of eternity, had asked God for more time and was rewarded with an extra 15 years of service, so the Psalmist was restored to health and wholeness. Length of days was granted to him where death has seemed immanent. This situation is well known to us. Oftentimes, as a loved one is dying, the consistent prayer of a Christian is heard: “Lord, grant him healing; please allow him to live.” Perhaps we have even ourselves tread through that dark valley and have cried to God for deliverance, and God, in His lovingkindness and faithfulness, often answers by granting recovery and salvation from physical death. And, as we watch that loved one restored, we respond like the Psalmist: “I love you Lord; you are gracious, righteous, and merciful”—and well should we respond! But what happens if God chooses to answer our request in a manner different from what we would like. What if He chooses to withhold life in place of death and take the loved one home? At that point, is God still gracious and merciful? Does He care? The Psalmist seems to have anticipated that question in this Psalm, and He gives us the answer in verse 15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” Precious—honorable, excellent, special—because the Father is able to further to a heavenly degree the work of grace begun in that life. Precious—honorable, excellent, special—because the Son now sees the person for whom He died made perfect. So, while we mourn and perhaps question God’s goodness, for God, it is only special when His children come home to Him. When I was in elementary school, I had two older sisters who were in college. As the Christmas and summer breaks drew near, I would be heard asking my parents over and over again, “When are they getting home?” And when the day finally came, it was filled with such excitement—it was a special day. We, too, are “pilgrims on a journey” going home. There is no one who anticipates that heavenly family reunion more than our Heavenly Father and Savior. And, so, from an earthly perspective, we pray for life and health, and it is often granted, and we conclude that life—God giving life—is good. But often from the perspective of our loving, gracious, merciful, tender, and anticipating Father, death is good. Yes, it is precious in His sight when His children come home to Him. In light of those truths, our response should be similar to that of the Psalmist in verses 17-19 – "I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!" And so, let us “sorrow not even as others which have no hope” (I Thessalonians 4:13), but rather let us rejoice in the pleasure our Heavenly Father is enjoying as He communes in reunion with one of His children. Let us remind ourselves that while loved ones who have passed “cannot return to us, we will go to them” and join in the precious family reunion above. Thus, our hearts likewise break forth in thanksgiving to God and praise Him that “precious in [His sight] is the death of His saints.” Comments are closed.
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