The Casket

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the LORD, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD! (Psalm 116:15-19 ESV). There are many things that surprise me, but while I was visiting with family in Galveston, Texas, recently I was surprised at one of the “curios” hanging in the patio. My cousin’s home is located just blocks from the beach and is vulnerable to the storms that come inland from the gulf. Some years ago Hurricane Ike came ashore and flooded most of the island. They had over four feet of water in their home. Debris littered their yard and filled their pool in the backyard. While their home was not destroyed, there was a great deal of damage. As soon as he was allowed back on to the island after the storm, he went to assess the damage. Walking through their house he made his way to the back door and noticed a long plank of weathered wood blocking the door. He managed to open the door and move the wood. As he turned it over he noticed something very odd. It had three brass brackets fixed on the side and a long round handle run through each of the brackets. He recognized the piece of wood immediately as the side of an old wooden casket! You can imagine the shock for both he and his wife as they wondered where the rest of the casket might be, much less the contents. Fortunately they did not need to deal with anything other than that piece of the box. Yet, when we think of such an experience we do pause after reading the first verse of our text today: Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. How can death be seen as precious in any imaginable way? As Jesus repeated this psalm with his bewildered twelve gathered around him in the Upper Room, he must have thought of his own death and resurrection. And why would his death be precious? The answer was rather simple in Jesus’ case. His death was precious because it meant life for us. But what about the rest of us? The answer is relatively simple for us as well. The believer’s death is merely the entrance into our eternal home. Perhaps the most striking reminder of my trip back to my hometown was touring the area and seeing the old home sites. Some were not even there any longer. They had long since been razed leaving nothing more than an empty lot; others had been left to fall into disrepair; and, still others sat in a sad condition within deteriorating neighborhoods. They simply are not eternal; they are all temporary. God knows that and is presently preparing those homes for his children. Knowing how perfect they will be, the Lord is able to say with absolute surety that our death is precious. None of what is left behind will be missed then. What an encouraging thought for me. I pray it encourages you as well!