Memorial Day began as a day to honor and remember those who
died in the Civil War. The very first soldier to die in that war was
Colonel Ellsworth, a personal friend of President Lincoln. Lincoln
gave his regiment the honor of being the first to cross the
Potomac into Virginia and pull down the rebel flag. Ellsworth took a
private with him and went up to the roof and pulled down the flag
himself. As he came down the stairs he was shot by the owner of the
hotel. At his funeral in the East Room of the White House,
Lincoln stood by his body and exclaimed, "My boy, my boy, was it
necessary that this sacrifice be made!" Little did he dream that in the
next four years nearly a million more from both North and South
would follow this first casualty to the grave.
As the war proceeded, Lincoln realized that there would be an
enormous price to pay to fight the evil of slavery, but that price had to
be paid, for when wrong is strong, right must fight, and pay the cost
however high. Ever since, America has been a nation that says
freedom is a value worth dying for. It is true that more people die on
the highway of our land than in the battlefields defending our
freedoms, but those who die on the battlefield die for a purpose. That
is why there is a holiday to commemorate such deaths.
It is only purposeful death that we memorialize. That is why we
also have frequent communion, for it is a remembering of a death with
ultimate purpose, for it saves all who put their trust in Jesus from the
final death and separation from God. It gives us eternal freedom to
live and enjoy all God made us for. It is the ultimate purposeful
death.
But Memorial Day is a day of remembrance of those who died for
our temporal freedom, and these were also significant purposeful
deaths. Over a portal of a cemetery in North Assam where many
American soldiers lie, who fought in India and Berma in World War
II, stands these words, "Tell them we gave our todays for their
tomorrows." Today is that tomorrow that was purchased for us by
their deaths. If we appreciate the freedoms and the opportunities to
enjoy life in America, because of the sacrifice of others, then we can
say, "Precious in the sight of Americans is the death of her soldiers."
This does not mean that we are glad that they died, or that we rejoice
in their death, but that we recognize the values for which they died,
and, thus, see the preciousness of the purpose for which they died.
We need to keep in mind that those who fought and lived also
fought for our freedoms. Most fighting men did not die. They lived to
enjoy the values they fought to preserve. Thank God not all had to
die, for it is their living that makes those who died, not to have died in
vain. That was Lincoln's great commitment, and his words are in the
marble behind the tomb of the unknown soldier. They read, "We here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Only the
living can make sure the dead have not died in vain, and so we thank
God for survivors It is great to be alive, and that is what Psalm 116 is
all about. It is about being a survivor, and being alive when, except
for the grace of God, the author would be dead. He was delivered
from death, and this is his song of thanksgiving.
Back in 1951, when open heart surgery had been performed less
than fifty times, Doris Sillimon entered a Boston hospital without
much hope. Two weeks later she was so enthused about her dramatic
recovery from her heart surgery that she made a vow to tell others,
and encourage them as they face the same dreaded ordeal. She got
her doctor to contact other heart patients, and an organization was
formed called, Mended Hearts. Doris was elected president, and her
wonderful idea became a visible reality. It met so great a need that
Mended Hearts chapters were formed from coast to coast. Dedicated
people, who had been through it, took fifteen hours of study to learn
all about the heart, and what open heart surgery was all about. Then
they spent hours explaining it to waiting loved ones as the surgery was
being performed. They have helped thousands bear the burden.
Their theme is, "It's great to be alive and help others."
This is also the theme of Psalm 116. We do not know who the
author of this Psalm was, but we do know he came very near dying,
but was then spared, and this Psalm is his song of praise and
thanksgiving for that deliverance. He rejoices in verse 9 that he walks
before the Lord in the land of the living, and he wants to pay his vows,
he says twice, in the presence of all God's people. He wants his
testimony to be a help to others. His message here can be summed up,
"It's great to alive and to help others." The mended hearts idea goes way
back to this Old Testament saint who had been through the
valley, and wanted to encourage others who had to face the same
journey.
That, of course, means all of us, for all of us have a terminal
illness, and that is life. It is deadly to be alive in a fallen world, for it is
only that which is alive that dies. For all practical purposes life is
always fatal. The few exceptions where men by-pass death to go
directly to heaven are not relevant to us, for that detour has long been
closed. When Christ returns, the Rapture Road will be opened, which
also by-passes death, but until that day all of God's people must go the
regular route.
The Psalmist had to take this road also, but this song is about his
joy because the original trip was rescheduled. He was about to die
but, like Hezekiah, he cried out for the Lord to save him, and God did
it. He had to die later, but he was so grateful for the chance to stay in
the land for the living a while longer. We want to examine his
testimony to learn about what a believers attitude ought to be when he
faces death. The first thing we see in this song is-
I. HIS HONESTY OF EXPRESSION.
He did not pretend that death was a welcome visitor, but expressed
his honest feelings that its presence made him suffer distress and
anguish. The Living Bible puts it, " I was frightened and sad." That
is an excellent rendering, for modern studies show that the two most
common reactions to death are fear and sadness.
It is often assumed that a believer does not face death with these
negative emotions, but the facts of scripture, and life's experience
prove otherwise. The Psalmist makes it clear that he wept in deep
depression as he faced the loss of his life. As an Old Testament saint
he did not have the New Testament hope of the Christian, but his
emotions are not that much, if any, different from what Christians go
through as they face death.
Billy Graham, in what I consider his best book, Hope For The
Troubled Heart writes, "I have faced death many times, and my
reactions have not always been the same. One time I had an operation
that almost ended me. I knew this could be serious, so before they
wheeled me in the operating room I called two of my closest friends
and gave them instructions about my wife, my family, and my
ministry. Ruth had gone to be with the children, and I tried to keep
the seriousness of the situation from her. Whether this was right or
wrong, I don't know. At least I am living to tell the story." "I
remember alternating between two feelings. First, the complete peace
I had, knowing that I would be with my Lord Jesus Christ, and second,
the fear of leaving my loved ones. I certainly thought I was going to
die."
The Bible does not anywhere encourage us to put on a mask and
deny the reality of the negative emotions that are inevitable. No one
ever lived that had more faith and hope than the apostle Paul, yet he
expressed the same honest emotions as did the Psalmist, when he
praised God for sparing his friend Epaphroditus from death, lest he
have sorrow upon sorrow. In other words, even perfect assurance
that death leads a Christian directly into the presence of Christ does
not eliminate the negative emotions. There are circumstances when
death is a welcome release, and the Christian does not suffer these
negative emotions, but in the majority of cases Christians cannot
escape the reality that death is an enemy.
Peter Kreeft in, Love Is Stronger Than Death, is extremely blunt
and honest in his expression of the fact. He writes, "Death is loss, loss
of life. Life is good. Loss of a good is an evil. Therefore, death is an
evil. Loss of a great good is a great evil. Life is a great good.
Therefore, death is a great evil. Not to see this is a great blindness.
Blindness is a great evil. Therefore, not to see death as a great evil is
a great evil."
"Death is.........the undoing of creation. Death is the most
uncreative thing there is. It literally uncreates creation, whether it is
the creation of man or God, whether it is a painting destroyed by fire,
or a nation destroyed by war, a soul destroyed by vice, or a body
destroyed by cancer. Death is the enemy of God. It undoes the divine
work, creation."
The emotions of both the Old Testament and New Testament saints
support this view of death as an enemy. You usually do not become
hilarious in your expression of joy at being delivered from a friend. It
is obvious that death is an enemy to motivate such strong joy and
gratitude when one is spared from it. Verse 15 of this Psalm does
seem to contradict this conclusion, and has lead to a great deal of
confusion on the issue of death. It says, "Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of His saints."
Much of the false thinking about death can be traced back to this
verse. It is usually quoted in total disregard of the context. The
context is a song, not in praise of death, but in praise of God who has
delivered from death. This verse cannot mean what it is usually
quoted to mean-that God delights in the death of His saints. If that is
what it meant, the Psalmist would be saying I am so happy I didn't die,
but God would be happier if I did. God let me escape death even
though He would have preferred that I died. In other words, the
popular interpretation of this verse says that his being spared was
God's second best choice. Life was a compromise, but death would
have been God's first choice, for He delights in the death of His saints
more than their being spared from death.
Something is clearly wrong with this popular interpretation, for it
amounts to praising God for giving up His own will for the sake of the
will of man. The Psalmist would be saying in effect, "Not thy will but
mine be done." Or, "Thank God he didn't have his way." How can
we interpret this verse to make sense in the context of the joy of
deliverance from the jaws of death? Most commentators are of no
help for they tend to deal with it in isolation as a funeral text for
comfort. Alexander Maclaren, the great Baptist expositor, is one of
the rare ones who seek to make it fit the context. He writes, "The
meaning is that the death of God's saints is no trivial thing in God's
eyes, to be lightly permitted." In other words, not trivial in the sight
of the Lord is the death of His saints, but, rather, it is a tremendous
issue in the sight of God. If death was a light and trivial matter to
God He would not bother to interfere with it, and deliver His saints
from its clutches. But because it is a precious matter to God to see
His saints die, He takes death very seriously.
God does not deal with us like a paper cup that is used and tossed
away, but like a rare piece of China that is treated with great care.
Precious in the sight of God is the breaking of His best China. When a
believer dies it is no minor incident, but a major matter of concern
with God. The Living Bible is one of the few places where this concept
comes through. It says, "His loved ones are very precious to Him and
He does not lightly let them die." This interpretation not only fits the
context of this passage, but it makes sense in the other Psalms where
this same idea is expressed. In Psalm 72:14 we read, "Precious is their
blood in His sight." Taken out of context it makes God look sadistic
by delighting in the violent death of His people. But seen in context,
and interpreted properly, it shows God's great concern for the lives of
His people.
Psalm 72:12-14 reads, "For He delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the
needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence
He redeems their life; and precious is their blood in His sight." In
other words, because their blood is precious in His sight, He does not
desire to see it spilled in violence, and so He delivers from death. The
point of these passages is, God is the great deliverer because He takes
seriously the shedding of His saints blood and their death. The
popular interpretation, out of context, makes these verses mean just
the opposite-that God somehow delights in the death of His people.
This concept not only contradicts the context, but the entire spirit of
Biblical revelation which considers long life a blessing of God.
God takes death so seriously that He detests man's audacity in
tampering with the lives of His people. David had this truth deeply
ingrained in him. He would not kill King Saul even when he had the
perfect chance, for he was the Lord's anointed. David knew that God
would not take lightly the killing of even this rebel anointed one. How
we treat the lives of others is of the highest priority in the sight of God,
for the death of any of His saints is a precious matter in His sight.
Many have so divorced this verse from its context that they use it to
teach that God in His sovereignty delights in all His children's death,
because He appoints the day of their death, and it is always a good
thing when they do die.
Many see this as a good Calvinistic interpretation of Scripture, but
John Calvin could see that the contexts of this verse would not support
any such interpretation. He saw it as a challenge to the ungodly who
think they can kill God's people without judgment. He says this verse
is saying to those with this false idea about God's concern, and I quote
Calvin, "That God does not hold His servants in so little estimation as
to expose them to death casually." Calvin goes on to say that the
wicked may shed innocent blood and think it is nothing, but they will
learn in judgment that death was a precious matter in the sight of
God, and they will pay dearly for their shedding of that blood so
precious in His sight.
We have labored this issue because it is more often abused than
properly used. It is abused when it is made to say the opposite of what
it means. It means death is a major issue with God and those who
minimize it and say death is no big deal, contradict the mind of God.
Death was a big deal to the Psalmist, and that is why he was so
miserable when he thought he was going to die, and so happy when he
had been delivered. To teach that death is no big deal, but a mere
minor event in the life of a believer, is to make trivial that which is
never trivial to God. The Psalmist made a big deal of it by his honest
expression of negative feelings. He did not pretend, with a pious
indifference, that it made no difference to him whether he lived or
died. It made a big difference to him, and so the second point we want
we to look at is--
II. HIS HOPE OF ESCAPE.
The popular misunderstanding of verse 15 could make a saint
submit to death as if this spirit would be pleasing to God, since He, by
that view, delights in the death of His saints. The man who wrote that
verse, however, did not resign himself to death, but resisted it with all
his strength, and prayed earnestly that God would help him to escape
the snare that held him. You will find no support here for yielding to
death as a friend. He fought it as an enemy to be defeated. He knew
he would eventually have to die, but he did not assume that this was
his appointed time. He was determined to win as many victories over
this foe as he possibly could. His was a death-defying attitude like that
of Edna St. Vincent Millay who wrote,
"Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave.
Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind;
Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave.
I know, but I do not approve, and I am not resigned.
Where there is life there is hope. This is the Christian perspective.
David fasted and cried out to God for days for his sick child. When
the child died he ceased his struggle, and looked to a hope beyond
death. But until death was a reality, he fought it with all the weapons
he had at his disposal. This is the kind of attitude that has enabled
millions to escape what otherwise would have been certain death.
Every time we can outwit this foxy foe, the more life we will have to
devote to the service of God. This song of praise has been sung by
millions because the Psalmist was able to escape the grim reaper for a
time.
What this means for practical living is this: The Biblical attitude
toward death supports any effort to improve the quality and the
quantity of life on earth. Medical research is Christian in its
motivation to find answers for all the diseases that destroy life.
Health diets, jogging, and any other addition to ones life's style that
encourages longer life is legitimate for the believer. The reverse is
also true, that any habit or life style that hastens death is a
collaboration with the enemy, and it is contrary to God's will for our
lives. Just as an American citizen has no business promoting
communism, so the Christian has no business promoting the enemy of
life. Jesus came that we might have life, and not just life after death,
but life abundant before death. Anything we do that encourages and
strengthens the power of death to rob us of that life is inconsistent with
God's purpose.
Every good commander learns from his enemy. If you expect to
get good at any competitive sport you must learn from your opponent.
So the Christian must learn from the enemy death. It has some
powerful lessons that God wants us to learn. Even out of death God
can bring forth good for those who want to learn. John Gunther and
his wife Frances lost their 17 year old son to a brain tumor. John
wrote of it in his well known book, Death Be Not Proud. In this book
his wife sums up the value of death to her. "Death always brings one
suddenly face to face with life. Nothing, not even the birth of one's
child, brings one so close to life as death.....It raises all the infinite
questions.....What is the meaning of life? What are the relations
between things; life and death? Man, men, and God?"
"To me it means loving life more; being more aware of life, of one's
fellow human beings, of the earth.....It means caring more and more
about people, at home and abroad, all over the earth. It means caring
about God." She learned what the Psalmist learned, and what we all
need to learn from the reality of death, and that is, that it is great to
be alive, and to be delivered from death. Thank God everyday you
are delivered from death, for everyday is an opportunity to enjoy the
freedom and abundant life Jesus died to give us. The best memorial
you can give to those who have died is to enjoy what they died to
preserve for you--deliverance from death.
