Death in the Family

Read Psalms 116:1–118:29

1. I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy.
2. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!
3. Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow.
4. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Please, Lord, save me!”
5. How kind the Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours!
6. The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me.
7. Let my soul be at rest again, for the Lord has been good to me.
8. He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
9. And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth! Psalm 116:1-9

Everyone has a perspective on death. Some welcome its coming. Others fear death and try to prolong their time on earth as long as possible. But what should Christians think? Should we welcome it or fear it?

The author of Psalm 116 was near death and feared for his life. But he didn’t just worry about it—he cried out to God, “Save me!” God did, and the psalm writer praised him. This psalm speaks a lot about what he has learned. Read it and you can learn, too.

This reading gives other reasons for praising God: his unlimited love for us (Psalm 117) and the security his eternal love provides for us when our circumstances keep changing (Psalm 118).

God stays close to us even when we face death (Psalm 116:15). The death of a person matters to God; he does not take it lightly or count it cheaply. When someone we love nears death, we may become angry or feel abandoned. But God considers every believer precious, and he carefully chooses the time when they will be called into his presence.

Let this truth guide you when a loved one has a grave illness or a life-threatening injury; let it provide comfort when a loved one has died. God sees and cares for each and every life. No one takes death more seriously than God.