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Psalm 122:
1I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.
2Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
With respect to the knowledge of what lies beyond the grave, the moment of dying is deeply significant. Even the way in which we die, and see others die, contributes to our knowledge of God. So many things that in ordinary times stand between God and our soul, then fall away. Then one stands at the entrance of the invisible life, and the words of the Psalmist: "Our feet stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem," can also be applied to the entering in through the gates of the new Jerusalem.
But here, dying must be taken in its only real sense. Dying is an act. In being born, one is passive. Life then only begins. But when the end is come, and God has privileged us to reach the years of maturity, in taking departure from this and entering upon the coming life, the servants and handmaidens of the Lord must not be dragged out by death against their will, they must themselves go out willingly, and by the way in which they do this, reveal the fruit of the labors of their faith. The early Christians sang hymns of praise as they carried out their dead, and Paul exclaimed: "For me to die is gain, for to be with Christ is by far the best" (Philippians 1:21). Thus, dying was the last struggle, but not of one who defends his life against the waylayer, no, it was the struggle of the hero who bravely pushed ahead in order jubilantly to meet his God.
Truly, we may not court death. It is laid upon us as our bounden duty, to watch over our life until the very end. Suicide is no dying, but a doing away with oneself, a self-destruction. Dying is an exhibition of courage. Suicide is cowardice, it is surrender, a no longer daring to continue the struggle of life, a desertion from the ranks. But though until the very end, as long as there is hope and chance, nothing must be left untried, to extend our service of God here on earth until He issues forth the call—when He calls, the smile of holy joy is more in place than a mournful sigh. He who believes has always confessed that he does not belong here, but that his home is above. This is what dying must make real. In dying, the seal must be put upon all of our life of faith. Dying must be nothing else for the child of God than the entrance into an eternal life.
And this it can not be, unless it is an act. We must not be overtaken, arrested and carried off. We must hear Him who calls, and answer in reply: Behold, Lord, here am I, and then bravely enter the valley of the shadow of death and go through all its length, knowing that the Lord awaits our coming, and that at His hand He leads us through this darkness to the light.
Yet, let us add at once that such ideal dying is not frequent. The pains and sorrows of death often rob dying of its ideal, its exalted and holy character; and a state of coma not infrequently interferes, so that there is no possibility of a willing and conscious dying as an act of the soul. It even happens, alas, that a narcotic potion is administered, to turn dying into a sleeping of oneself away.
As long, however, as the person himself is irresponsible in this matter, let not such an impossibility of dying manfully on the part of a child of God be turned into a reproach. In this God is sovereign, and as a matter of fact, the Lord withholds such heroic dying in the full consciousness of faith from more than one.
Only there should not be too much acquiescence in this matter.
Scripture ever avoids the sentimental side, and therefore has extremely little to say about dying. Actually it only outlines the dying of Christ on Golgotha, and that of Jacob. But of Jacob we are told that when he felt the end draw near, "he strengthened himself, and sat up on his bed, and leaning upon the top of his staff, worshiped, and blessed his sons" (Hebrews 11:21).
Jacob strengthened himself, that is to say, he did not allow himself to be overcome by his weakness and distress. He struggled against it, took hold of himself, and gathered together the last of his waning strength, in order that in dying he might glorify God. He had no thought of care about himself, or of concern about his condition, or about breathing forth his latest breath; and even when he blesses his sons, it is no mere family scene, but a holy prophesying, how through his sons who together would be the tribal heads in Israel, the Kingdom of God would come, and how that Kingdom would flourish, and that one day the Messiah would come. "Until Shiloh come," this was the acme of his prophecy. He blesses his sons, but, in and through his sons, his prophecy points to the coming of the Kingdom of heaven.
Hence in the Epistle to the Hebrews this is described as his greatest act of faith. "By faith Jacob when he was dying blessed his sons and worshiped."
It can not be denied that in dying a darkness can envelop the soul. Satan can be let loose to harass us in our dying hour. But as a rule it must be said, that life is for the sake of making sure our faith, and that in our dying, the fruit of this assurance of faith must exhibit itself, to the glory of our God.
And therefore, it must not be conceded that on his death-bed a man is permitted to let himself passively be overcome by his distress and by his weakness. In dying, the will, the courage and the elasticity of faith must still struggle against the weakness of the flesh. In this holy moment the spirit, not the flesh, must conquer. And this is what Jacob did. He strengthened himself in order that he might die in a godly manner. Had he not done this, in all probability he, too, might have passed away in a semiconscious state. But this he did not do. His mighty spirit shook itself awake. And so he glorified God in his dying.
A dying which even now is held up to every Christian as an example.
But then there is also in such dying a meeting with God, which before death enriches the knowledge of God, both for him who dies, and for those who watch at the bedside.
It is frequently told as the most desirable way of dying that one quietly and peaceably fell asleep, which, in fact, almost always means that without giving any intelligent sign of life he passed away in an unconscious state of mind.
Well, this is equally possible with unbelievers. And so you hear it said of those who died without Jesus, that they went away equally quietly and calmly; perhaps even less troubled in mind by care and doubt than many a child of God.
Nothing was said to them of any serious nature. They themselves spoke of nothing apprehensive. The physician continued to assure them that things were not serious. And so the dying passed from life in an ordinary way, without having known anything of the terror of death.
And others, seeing this, then got the impression that dying after all had nothing to it; it was all so quiet and gentle. Then came the flowers that were laid on the casket. As visits of condolence are no more in vogue, nothing connected with death is spoken of. And after the funeral every topic of conversation is resumed, except that which deals with things eternal.
And thus the mighty lesson of dying goes altogether for naught. Death ceases to be a preacher of deeper seriousness. And the Lord of life and of death is not remembered.
This is an evil which we Christians should not countenance. And yet, this is what we do, when in imitation of the way of the world we say of such dead that they have passed away "quietly and calmly."
Not quietly and calmly, but fighting and conquering in his Savior, such and not otherwise must be the deathbed in the Christian family.
He who dares not face this, and is intent on nothing else than to spare the patient up to the last all serious and troublous thought, is not merciful, but cruel through unbelief.
In dying Jacob worshiped.
On his death-bed one can pray. Pray for help in the last struggle. Pray for those that are his and whom he leaves behind. Pray for the Kingdom of God. And already such prayer is glorious in that, on one's death-bed, one thus consciously appears before the face of God, every veil drops away, and one sends up his last supplication to the God Who awaits him in the courts of everlasting light! Such prayer teaches those who stand by to pray. Such prayer has overwhelming persuasive influence.
And yet Jacob did more.
Dying he worshiped. In dying he felt impelled to offer unto his God the sacrifice of worship and adoration; to give Him praise, thanksgiving and honor; to lose himself in the greatness and Majesty, in the grace and compassion of his God; and thus to offer Him the fruit of the lips, in a better fashion than he had ever been able to do in life.
Such a solemn worship on one's death-bed is a summary of the worship which we have offered unto God in our life; but now it is felt more intensely, more deeply than ever, as it immediately precedes the moment when among God's angels and saints above we shall bring Him the honor of his great and glorious Name.
In such a worship on one's death-bed all the knowledge of God that has been acquired before, concentrates itself, and in such a moment this knowledge is wonderfully illumined, enriched and deepened. Now God is known more clearly than He has ever been known before. It is almost seeing Him face to face.
And from this worship follow blessed results in behalf of those who watch and minister at the bedside.
At a death-bed, love is strongly aroused. The beginning of mourning already struggles in the heart, thereby, it is more receptive than ever; and the impression which it receives in such a moment, is overwhelming.
We know, we trust, that the loved ones believe on Jesus; but frequently one sees no evidence of it, and observes rather the contrary, in narrow-mindedness and sin.
But when the moment of dying has come, and children see it of their father, a husband of his beloved wife, that in this affecting moment the faith does not fail, but maintains itself; that at the gate of eternity the language of faith becomes more animated and strong; and it seems as though one overhears an utterance of soul from the dying one that goes out after God; then it is the dying one himself, who, through his worshipful prayer and supplication brings you, as it were, into the very Presence of God, and makes you feel that Divine Presence closer at hand than you ever felt it before.
Much dying could be far different from what it now is, had the life been different. Then faith would awaken more effectually, and, in dying, God's child would understand that he still had a duty to fullfil towards God and towards his loved ones.
Then dying would be, far more than it is now, a preaching of sacred reality, and the fruit of it would be effective to the glory of God in the lives of those that are left behind.
* * * * * * *This devotional classic offers 110 meditations on a single thought from Psalm 73: "As for me, it is good to be near to God." The author states, "The fellowship of being near unto God must become reality ... it must permeate and give color to our feeling, our perceptions, our sensations, our thinking, our imagining, our willing, our acting, our speaking. It must not stand as a foreign factor in our life, but it must be the passion that breathes throughout our whole existence."
The meditations reflect the blending of spiritual vigor with doctrinal loyalty so consistently expressed in the life of Abraham Kuyper. These are devotions with true substance, avoiding the extremes about which Kuyper adds a word of caution: "Stress in creedal confession, without drinking from the Living Fountain, runs dry in barren orthodoxy, just as truly as spiritual emotion, without clearness in confessional standards, makes one sink in the bog of sickly mysticism."
Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920) was a Dutch political leader and Calvinist theologian. Elected to parliament in 1874, he became Prime Minister in 1901 and served in that capacity until 1905. As a theologian, he revived a systematic, orthodox Calvinism. He founded the Free Reformed Church and the Free University of Amsterdam. His other works include Principles of Sacred Theology, Lectures on Calvinism, and The Work of the Holy Spirit
Further information about Abraham Kuyper's life can be seen in the translator's "Biographical Note"; further information about To Be Near Unto God can be Abraham Kuyper's "Preface" to that book.
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