What shall I render to the LORD
for all his benefits to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the LORD,
14 I will pay my vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of the LORD
is the death of his saints.
We have all been to funerals and memorial services. You may have noticed that there is something peculiar about the funeral of a saint. There is smiling and laughter. There is joy. There are tears, to be sure, but they are not the tears of the hopeless, but those of people who will be reunited in heavenly splendor at the end of our lives if the Lord tarries. The hardest funerals are the ones where there are no answers and there is no hope. The loved ones can hope to see them again but the joy of assurance is as absent as their loved one.
The Lord has done great things for us. He created us and gave us the world to live in. He loved us and showed mercy when he sent his Son Jesus to the cross. We raise the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord in our best and worst days. In the gathering of believers, we sing and praise, giving to the Lord who gave his all for us.
And then he calls us home. We see Jesus face to face. He is precious and he takes us in his arms like a child of the God of hope.
Dear Lord, thank you for the lives we lead and the life to come. Help us to rejoice at home and in our homegoing. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church