Does God exist? If He does exist, then why? Why do good men and women die while others who don’t give a rip about God live on? Why does the drunk driver usually live after a head-on collision while an innocent loved one die? Why do Christians who were only doing their duty get killed or die some distant place while their loved ones having to pick up the pieces? As the prophet asked, why do good things happen to bad people (or why do the wicked prosper)? I try to do what is right and yet I am the one who has to pay back…sometimes more or heavier. He/She honored God and they were killed in a fire (or by the fires, ex. The Holocaust) and all the while God was silent. Does God even care? Does God notice when that man/woman violated me? We talk about “my reward” in heaven, but why can I not at least have a taste of a reward while on earth? Why do I have to wait while others get whatever they want and live (what appears to be) happy and content? Why do I have to sacrifice or do without…and not just a one-time thing; but it seems to be a routine in my life? I’m a nobody and if I were gone, no one (or hardly no one) will remember or care. And what of my loved ones whom I leave behind? My friends and family (or even the church members) say a few kind words but when a day or week or a holiday passes, they continue on and I am still heartbroken or alone.
On a winter voyage, the SS Dorchester—a cruise ship converted for service with the US Army—overloaded with men went on a short run from New York to Greenland. Suddenly the ship was hit by torpedo from a German U-boat on February 3, 1943. The ship reacted and sank so quickly that alarms didn’t get to go off in time to warn anyone or call for help; the loss of power crippled everything. The loss of lives was tragic. Did anything good come out of it? Four men—Army chaplains which included a Methodist minister, Reformed Church in America pastor, Catholic priest, and a Jewish Rabbi—surrendered their life vests, their lives, and helped directly and save as many as they could. When no more could be done, they stood their ground aboard the ship bravely and stoically to the Lord. As the ship sank into the bitterly cold northern Atlantic waters, they were last seen with locked arms together singing a song unto the Lord. The story of the four chaplains will forever be known in the annals of history in military circles. Lives given in sacrifice so that others may live. And prior to this cold day, they served their ministerial duties faithfully and selflessly. When a shoulder to lean on or cry on was needed, an ear bent to a man’s woes, a meal served while they went hungry, theological questions needed more than mumbo-jumbo answers, they served and honored the Lord…often in obscurity. Does anyone notice? Does anyone care? And where was God in all of this?
A singular verse of scripture zipped into my Spirit Wednesday evening during service. It was never mentioned in passing or in the sermon, but nonetheless this verse of scripture captured my attention and required careful thought. Psalm 116:15 says, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” What a very peculiar verse of scripture. If we were the writer of this verse, we would have said Precious in the sight of the LORD are His saints to congratulate ourselves for an accomplishment or an honor achieved by being a Christian or a special Christian. Even if this verse were to capture our attention as we zip through the Book of Psalms, we might dismiss this as a curiosity that God delights to see Christians die or suffer for Him and keep on reading something that seems easier to digest or easier to accept.
But the Lord is never casual or flippant or careless with words, and certainly not in the perspective of chosen words of precious and death. Although the source or even the meaning behind Psalm 116 is argued to either be a Davidic psalm or perhaps one during the time of King Hezekiah’s illness. In either case the perspective that I can lift is coming from a second in command or a low-ranking official making an observation. The American English language, as said by many foreigners, is one of the hardest languages to learn. We have words that have different meanings despite being spelled the same. Some words are spelled the same but are said differently. Simple words like bad can carry a negative or positive meaning, entirely at the mercy of the person speaking the word and how it is portrayed.
So how is death precious and why to the Lord? Death is death. It is painful. It hurts. It is final. It leaves scars. It leaves debts. It leaves unfinished business. Death is never viewed in any positive light. Even suicide can never be viewed as beautiful, poetic, or special. While struggling to understand this, I decided to pursue two avenues to attempt to understand this verse’s meaning despite its position in this psalm. One avenue for interpretation was to read it in the various English translations. And despite effort made, none of the translations helped. It was as if the translator took the verse, scratched his head, threw some words together to sorta make it make sense and kept on going.
So I chose, as I often do, to read the whole psalm (or passage) to attempt to interpret the meaning behind it based on context. After all everything flows in the Bible and so let us look at how everything is stated in the psalm as if this verse could not stand apart on its own but was tied together or even just a verse just stuck there while getting to what the writer really wanted to say; this verse a mere casual glance or chug hole in the road. And with the perspective being of someone on their deathbed—whether Kings David or Hezekiah—we can see almost a poetic eulogy written to affirm their leader. As if to encourage the reader/hearer “here lies a good man” and be encouraged that you, too, can be one as well if you choose to live wisely. And certainly, within the whole psalm’s context, this is very valid and makes sense. But when reading the psalm with its beautiful flowery words, this singular verse, still sticks out as an oddity, despite this understanding for meaning that makes sense.
It was not until I read this verse in Hebrew (a direct English translation of Hebrew) did this verse make sense (also tying in a context of a eulogy). Verse fifteen translates to be, “Difficult in the eyes of the Lord is the death of His pious ones.” To understand this translation, let us go to the shortest verse in the whole Bible (John 11:35), “Jesus wept.” I, like the late Carman, believe that this verse in John speaks of Jesus weeping for the lack of faith in the people for what God could do. Death was/is final. Lazarus, Jesus’ good friend, is buried. His guts removed. He is wrapped in deathrags. He had been dead for days. This was not Lazarus was asleep or in a coma. Lazarus was dead, gone, passed away, “kicked the bucket”. But, if I were excused of my understanding to tie myself to others view that Jesus was emotionally tied up with this situation and wept. Why? Because His friend Lazarus was dead and He missed him. Or that Jesus was caught up with the emotions of others and shed a tear with the others in sympathy. Or the pain in His chest for the loss of His good friend. And as the Bible says that He knows our frailties as well knows our hearts, He knows what makes us weep, sad, and heartbroken. A Man of sorrow and acquainted with grief is what Isaiah 53:3 says. God stores all our tears in a bottle (Psalm 56:8). Emotions are not a human-only reaction. The Trinity knows of emotions and is the origin as to why we have them. One final verse that may seem disjoined for the moment is the last half of Zechairah 2:8, “…for he who touches you touches the apple of His eye.”
So if sadness is known, felt, understood, and experienced by God (any part/person of the Trinity), let us then go back to the Hebrew reading of that psalm, “Difficult in the eyes of the Lord…” What does this mean? Despite Calvinistic and agnostic views speak to the contrary, we (people) can have a personal relationship with God. Likewise, when we ask Jesus to forgive us of/from our sins and invite Him to become our Lord and Savior, a very personal relationship exists. As Abraham had with God, as David had with God, as Samuel, Elijah, etc. had with God…as well as Saul/Paul, Peter, James, John, etc. did, we can have a relationship as close or closer with God than we do with our family, our spouse (which I often say marriage serves as a metaphor for our intimate relationship with God), and with special, special friends. Romans 12:15-16 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another…” It’s a relationship with reciprocity; I hurt, you hurt, I rejoice, you rejoice, my needs are yours and vice versa. It is that love that Jesus spoke of in John 13:35 that binds us together.
And so if love, pain, sadness, and loss are there and we feel those deep emotions, those deep emotions touch God—even if it is God who experiences those deep emotions first or apart from us while we struggle to understand ours. So with Zechariah’s view and the eulogy view, it is like poking God—a painful and delicate part of the body—in the eye. Or another way to say this is God’s heart breaks when someone who lived and gave it to God to their final strokes or breaths. This is beyond—praise God—for loved ones who were Christians and passed away to not had tarnished their relationship with God with sin and lived a Christian life to the end. God gets glory and to their account, praise God they remained faithful. But this verse—in connection to the whole psalm—is about a man who went further, who gave more, went more, was spent more, sacrificed more. He went beyond. And despite Heaven is an equal destination no matter how much we lived to God, some people got/get God’s attention a bit more even if the ultimate reward of Heaven is the same. I wonder if this psalm were written in the New Testament, would it be about Stephen when he saw Jesus standing—rather than Him just sitting on His throne beside the Father—in heaven? This individual—man, woman, child—got the attention of Heaven. Despite the Bible not recording these events, I wonder if the death of Peter, James, John, etc. got the same reaction in Heaven?
And though the loss of anyone’s life is sad or tragic, the loss of a good man or woman pains God deeply. And when we pass on from this mortal coil as in Hamlet’s speech, has our life been one that is spoken of. Not of money. Not of possessions. Not of titles. Not of the size of those who attended our funeral and then went about their lives away from this momentary interruption. Will our life from this time to eternity touch not just our family’s and friends’ lives, but touch God’s heart? Oh, there is a God who truly does love and care and exist. Our existence is not meaningless drivel to ultimately be in a hole six-feet deep. Our life is not a dream for some and a memory for others when we’re gone. And God truly desires to know us in a personal way. But the question remains when said about us specifically, will our life touch the eye of God for it to be said, “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of ____ (insert your name)”? Death doesn’t have to be when that is ultimately decided when the game pieces of our life are picked up, placed back in the box, and put on the shelf. No matter how old or young we are presently and no matter how far gone we are or how many times we’ve slipped and fell along the way, our lives can truly make a difference now and to the end. As William Carey said, “Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God”. We need to get off our rear ends and get busy because there will be a time when darkness comes when no one can work because it isn’t us who sends ourselves. We are to do His work. John 9:4, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” May we choose to be precious in His sight.