A Near Death Experience

SYNOPSIS: There’s nothing like coming face-to-face with death to bring clarity to what is most important in life. In Psalm 116, the psalmist had either come through a literal near-death experience or he had gone through something spiritually that was so intensely difficult that death would have been a welcomed option. Whatever the reason for this deeply personal psalm, staring the Grim Reaper in the eye led the writer to this bottom line: I love the Lord! I don’t wish a near-death experience for you, but I do pray that you would come to the same overriding conclusion of what is first and foremost in life: The extension of God’s mercy to you and your response of love to the Lord. Tell me, what else in life is more important than that?

Moments with God // Psalm 116:1-6

There’s nothing like coming face-to-face with death to bring clarity to what is most important in life. The psalmist had either come through a literal near-death experience, or he had gone through something spiritually that was so intensely difficult that death would have been a welcomed option. Whatever the reason for this deeply personal psalm, staring the Grim Reaper in the eye led the writer to this bottom line: I love the Lord!

I don’t wish a near-death experience for you, me, or anyone, but I do pray that we would come to the same overriding conclusion of what is first and foremost in life: The extension of God’s mercy to us and our response of love to the Lord. Tell me, what else in life is more important than that?

Now I understand, as do you, that “love” is a term used rather loosely in our world. We love our favorite food, a certain TV show, a song, or a celebrity—we even love our pets (dogs I can understand; cats I can’t). And when we are teenagers, we love our best friends one day and hate them the next. Love is a squishy thing in our culture.

But when a near-death experience peels all the false “likes” and faux “loves” back from the core of what love truly is, we find a response of love for God that expresses itself in very real terms and quite practical actions. The psalmist mentions several:

Prayerful dependence on the Lord in daily life: “Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘Please, Lord, save me!’” (Psalm 116:3-4)

Calm assurance in the face of death: “The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die.” (Psalm 116:15)

Heartfelt gratitude for God’s goodness: “I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.” (Psalm 116:17)

Ruthless follow through of our vows to obey God’s law: “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord…” (Psalm 116:18a)

Authentic demonstration of public praise for the God we claim to love: in the presence of all his people—in the house of the Lord in the heart of Jerusalem.” (Psalm 116:18b-19).

Do you love the Lord? I do! How about we don’t just say it but show it today in one of those ways? After all, in his mercy, he has saved us from a great deal of bad stuff in life (“Then I called on the name of the Lord: Please, Lord, save me! … He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling” Psalm 116:4,8) and from even worse stuff after death (“The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die” Psalm 116:15).

Wow! Now that I think about it, I really do love the Lord!