Death—Real, Near, and Conquered
As the Lord lives, there is but a step between me and death. (David fleeing from Saul to Jonathan, I Sam. 20:3)
I Sam. 20:1-11 and 18:6-7; Ps. 91:1-10; Jn. 14:19; I Cor. 15:54, 55
What Is God Saying?
As the first of Israel's kings, Saul was promising, ‘There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome and he was taller than any of the people’ (I Sam. 9:2). Like Peter the Great of Russia, he stood out in the crowd, but in character, he was sadly flawed. Jealousy found him and hounded him. He could not bear the thought of anyone getting more recognition and credit than he. After David led a successful sortie against the Philistines, the admiring populace turned their eyes away from Saul. The people danced in the streets and sang, ‘Saul has slain his thousands and David his tens of thousands’ (I Sam. 18:6-7). Saul, intensely jealous, attempted to pin David to the wall with his spear. David escaped twice but he knew he was a marked man. Jonathan, Saul's son, and David were devoted friends. It was with Jonathan that David shared the truth of our text, ‘There is but a step between me and death.’
How Does This Apply To Us?
The point is not Saul's jealousy nor David's justified fear. Instead, note that David's words keep us out of the trap of being preoccupied with death. Death will come. No one is exempt. Even Jesus, the Son of God, died, but He rose from the dead. This very verse says, ‘As the Lord lives.’ The fact that death is real cannot dominate our thoughts if we are focused on the living Redeemer who said, ‘Because I live, you will live also’ (Jn. 14:19). Death is only a step away. Any newspaper on any day will attest to this fact. The Psalmist was on target when he said, ‘The arrow flies by day, the pestilence walks in darkness, and destruction wastes at noonday’ (Ps. 91:5-6), but in the same Psalm he encourages the faithful, ‘He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty’ and, ‘Because you have made the Lord your refuge ... no evil shall befall you’ (Ps. 91:1, 9-10). Death is but a step away, but we live for a day whose sun will never set, a day eternally bright and everlastingly right.
Pray With Me
Lord, no one can boast of many steps, many days, many opportunities. The fact remains that at any given moment, God's inevitable summons may be just a step away. There was for David, and there may be for me ‘but a step between me and death’ which could easily fill my heart with fear and frustration. But I have the joy of knowing that the Lord lives, the Lord rules, and the Kingdom over which He rules forever is for me. Help me to face each turn of events with the quiet assurance of one who has forever to see God's purposes.
At the very moment when fear whispers one step between me and death, let faith write the strong promise, ‘Because I live, you shall live also.’ Even though human experience throws all its weight on the side of death's nearness and life's shortness, let me live as one who has eternity in his heart, for in Christ that is what I have.
To the everlasting praise of His name. Amen.
Moving On In The Life of Prayer
Look full into the face of death's reality, and into the face of Jesus. We pray to One who has destroyed death, ‘Death is swallowed up in victory… O death, where is thy sting?’ (I Cor. 15:54-55). ‘The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for God has put all things in subjecti0n under His feet’ (I Cor. 15:26-27). What if death is but a step away? What if it silences the voice of both tyrants and saints? What if it is the shadow at every feast? Our Redeemer lives and hears our prayers. All things are subject to Him now and forever.
