“When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives” (Mark 14:26). As noted in Christian Worship: Psalter, the Passover meal was concluded with singing Psalms 115–118, psalms which remind believers of the Lord’s love, faithfulness, and deliverance for his people (p. 592).
These psalms were quite possibly the last songs and prayers our Savior sang with his disciples before the events in the Garden of Gethsemane. What comfort is now ours because he has fulfilled these songs of deliverance for us? This blog series offers some answers to that question based on the biblical truths found in Psalms 115–118. (Read the previous post here.)
Psalm 116
[It might be helpful to go through Psalm 116 before reading this post.]
Once there lived a young girl. In the mornings, her parents would drop her off at school, but both worked and were unable to pick her up in the afternoon when the school day was over. But that didn’t bother the young girl. She knew how to get home.
Every week, she took the same route home. Now, the road took her through a graveyard—a dark and dreary place filled with tombstones and monoliths. There were other ways she could get to her house, of course, but through the graveyard was the quickest, and the young girl did not mind.
The other children in her class were frightened, though. She was walking through a graveyard! The children asked her in hushed tones, “You do know what you’re walking through every day, right? Doesn’t that scare you?”
The young girl thought about what they had asked for a moment. Then she shook her head. “No,” she answered decidedly. “I’m not scared at all. That’s just how I get home.”
I heard that story from a pastor who was illustrating how we, as Christians, can view death. That’s just how we get home. I don’t know if the illustration was original to him or if he heard it from someone else, but it stuck with me.
Death is often seen as this frightening, cold experience, but from God’s Word we know that death is just how we get home to our Father in heaven. There’s no reason to be afraid; no reason for us to be scared at all. That’s just how we get home.
There’s a problem, though—a problem that becomes painfully clear as we walk through life: The brave, fearless answer of “That’s just how I get home” is not so easy to say when we encounter death and the painful, heartrending experiences associated with it—much less as we contemplate our own impending doom. We can become plagued with thoughts of fear and uncertainty that hold us in an icy cold grip and refuse to let us go.
Aren’t those dark, depressive thoughts similar to the psalmist’s in Psalm 116?
“The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow” (Psalm 116:3).
Even as Christians, death does frighten us. Thoughts of death overwhelm us because it’s something we cannot hope to overcome. Sooner or later, we all face it. And the devil’s whispering lies and accusations grow ever louder as that dreaded day grows ever closer. Do you really think God will welcome you home after all the awful things you’ve done? Do you really think God will save you from death itself?
Yes. Yes! That is who our God is. He is the God who saves.
After admitting his struggle with the cords of death, feelings of anguish, and being overcome by distress and sorrow, the psalmist wrote this: “Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Lord, save me!’” (Psalm 116:4). The God who calls himself gracious and righteous; and full of compassion heard the psalmist’s plea and answered him.
He hears and answers you too. That’s who our God is. He cannot lie. He delivers us from death. He wipes away the tears from our eyes. He keeps our feet from stumbling and holds us upright—all so that we may walk before him in thankfulness and praise all the days of our lives.
How? How can we walk—much less stand—despite the impending death that looms?
Dear Christian, you know.
You know the reason for praise despite all the pain and sorrow you experience. You know what your God has done to your enemy of death. He tells you in his Word. He ripped out its fangs, and death has lost its sting because Christ conquered it. That’s why Jesus came. He left all the powers of sin, death, and the devil crushed underfoot, lying utterly defeated in his wake as he strode forth from the empty tomb. He did that for you.
To paraphrase the apostle Paul, if Christ had not been raised from the dead, then we would still be in our sins; death would still reign, and we would still be subject to it. But Christ has been raised from the dead, and we are freed forever from the cords that entangled us.
Christ’s victory changes everything. He is how we’re able to walk through life here in the valley of the shadow of death—as cold and frightening as it might be at times. We know what Christ has done for us and the unbreakable promises he has made in his Word.
Sins forgiven. Home in heaven waiting. The God who walks beside us every step of the way, who has turned death into something precious in his sight because that’s just how we get home to him.
Praise the Lord!
For more devotional material on the Psalms, check out John F. Brug’s The People’s Bible: Psalms 1-72 (and73-150). Another great resource for devotions on what the Christian life is all about is Pastor Mark Paustian’s Our Worth to Him: Devotions for Christian Worship.
Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.